St. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – No. 3 seed Montevallo men's lacrosse is set to take on sixth-seeded Shorter in the first round of the Peach Belt Conference Championship Friday night at 6 p.m.
 
The Falcons earned the third seed after a 22-8 win over Young Harris on April 22, the same seed Montevallo started its championship run a year ago. UM's squad ended the regular season with a 10-6 overall record and a 3-2 mark in PBC action. Montevallo's ten regular season wins are the most in program-history.
 
Montevallo struggled with tough opponents during the first few weeks of the season with a 2-3 record taking loss from No. 14 Florida Southern and No. 7 UIndy. The Falcons then went on to rattle off four-straight victories from Feb. 28-Mar. 11. UM kicked off its win streak with a 9-8 win in a frozen battle against Davenport before topping Catawba 10-8 on the road. On Mar. 6, Montevallo took down Lees-McRae 17-10 before rounding out the win streak with a 13-11 win over Quincy on Mar. 11. The Falcons entered conference play with a 7-4 record before dropping two to the top seeds Lander (No. 1) and Flagler (No. 2) in the first two weeks. Montevallo bounced back with a hard-fought 12-11 overtime win over Alabama Huntsville on April 8. In UM's final two games of the season, the Falcons eclipsed the 20-goal mark twice with a 26-6 win over Shorter and a 22-8 win over Young Harris on Senior Day.
 
Montevallo MLAX enters the tournament with the league's second-most total goals (196), assists (115), assists per game (7.19), points (311), and points per game (19.44). The Falcons top the league with a .542 man-up scoring average after scoring 26 goals on 48 chances. Montevallo's goalkeepers are some of the best in the league with a league-leading 233 saves (14.56 avg./g.) while allowing just 11.77 goals per game (third).
 
Individually, the Falcons took home nine post-season Peach Belt awards with freshman keeper Alex Egorshin headlining the awards with Defensive and Freshman of the Year nods. Egorshin leads the league saves (202), saves per game (12.63), save percentage (.579) and minutes (794:36). The freshman's save percentage of .579 ranks eighth nationally.
 
The All-PBC first team features Montevallo's Trevayne Hunter, Connor Frederick and Gerry York. Hunter is one of the league's top offensive threats with a 2.56 goals per game average (third), 3.81 points per game (second), 1.25 assists per game (seventh), and 6.94 shots per game (second). Frederick, a senior midfielder, provides offensive support on the back-end with a total of 26 goals this season to go along with eight assists for a 34-point total. York's 137 faceoff wins and .596 win percentage are second among PBC leaders. York also leads the league with a team-high 93 ground balls.
 
Montevallo saw four Falcons named to the second team All-PBC, Max Citrano, Luke Hennebaul, Jackson Klewchuk and Egorshin. Citrano and Hennebaul earned the defensive honor after starting all 16 contests for Montevallo this year. Citrano notched 50 ground balls and 16 caused turnover while Hennebaul leads the squad with 25 caused turnovers. Klewchuk earned the midfield award after a 22-goal, 17-assist season for the junior.
 
PBC Co-Coach of the Year Jason Lange said this about Montevallo's quarterfinal matchup, "We're looking forward to the PBC Quarterfinals tonight. It's always a privilege to play in the postseason and our guys are looking forward for an opportunity to keep our season going."
 
The Falcons are set to take on sixth-seeded Shorter, hosted by No. 2 Flagler, after the Hawks finished the season with a 3-11 overall record and a winless 0-5 mark in conference play. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on Friday, April 28.