HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – For the third time this season, Montevallo women's soccer will face off with West Alabama except this time the fourth-seeded Falcons will take on the eighth-seeded Tigers in the semifinals of 2023 Gulf South Conference Tournament at 3 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
Montevallo enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed with a 7-3-3 mark in league play and a 10-4-3 mark during the regular season. With a 1-0 win over Union in the first round of the tournament, Montevallo earned a bid in the semifinals for the first time since 2019.
So Far This Season…
Montevallo holds an 11-4-3 overall record with a 7-3-3 mark in GSC action for the fourth seed in the GSC tournament. The Falcons kicked off the season with a 3-1 record in non-conference action with a win over West Alabama during that span. In the league slate, Montevallo posted an unbeaten 3-0-2 record in the first five games before falling to West Alabama, 1-0, on Sept. 29. The Falcons would drop two more contests with Alabama Huntsville and West Florida before drawing with Spring Hill on Oct. 8. To close the regular season, Montevallo rattled off five-consecutive victoried with the final four regular season matchups being a 2-0 Falcon victory. This past Saturday, the Falcons hosted No. 5 Union in the first round of the conference tournament, resulting in a 1-0 Falcon victory.
Scouting West Alabama: WATCH ($) | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
West Alabama's No. 8 seed comes after a regular season that saw the Tigers post a 6-9-2 overall record and a 6-6-1 mark in league play. West Alabama struggled in the non-conference schedule with an 0-3-1 record to start the season. The Tigers found footing in after a loss to Lee with a five-game unbeaten streak including a win over Montevallo on Sept. 29. UWA backslid for the next three games with losses to Union, Christian Brothers and Mississippi College before picking up a win against Delta State on Oct. 15. Following losses to Alabama Huntsville and West Florida, West Alabama won its final regular season matchup over Spring Hill. The Tigers shocked the league with a 1-0 win in double overtime over top-seeded West Florida on the road in the first round of the conference tournament. The Tigers attack is led by Venla Makela and Sierra O'Grady who each hold five goals on the season while Aileen Charles leads the team with 13 points on four goals and five assists. Dior Wilson leads West Alabama's defense from goal with a .784 save percentage and five shutouts on the year.
Series History Against West Alabama:
Since 2011, Montevallo holds a losing record against the Tigers with a 3-5-3 mark in the last 11 matchups. The series begain with a pair of Falcon wins in 2011 and 2012 before West Alabama went on a four-game winning streak from 2013-2018. The next three matchups in the series resulted in draws with games in 2021 and 2022 ending in a scoreless tie. This season, both sides hold a 1-1 record against the other with Montevallo taking a non-conference matchup on Sept. 8 before West Alabama won just a few weeks later on Sept. 29.
Player Highlights:
Montevallo's scoring is led by freshman forward
Lainey Farabaugh with five goals and two assists for a total of 12 points on the season. 2023 All-GSC Second Team midfielder
Kaeri Ward is second on the squad, along with veteran midfielder
Kieran Burkey, with four goals through 17 contests. The Falcons also boast 11 more goal scorers with
Angelina Rivas and
Alea Taube tallying three. Montevallo's goal keeping corps is led by senior
Emily Hounsell who has posted an 8-3-1 record on the year with eight clean sheets for the second-most among GSC leaders.
