MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Montevallo men's lacrosse opened the 2024 Peach Belt Conference schedule with a 19-16 home win over Lander on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Falcons drew first blood with a Matthew Boas goal that was assisted by Trevayne Hunter off the opening faceoff to give the Falcons and early lead. Montevallo added another early goal this time from Zach Laberge just over a minute later. With 13:12 on the clock, Boas tallied a second goal to lift the Falcons to an early 3-0 lead. Lander ended the Falcons' run at the 12:17 mark before Boas found the back of the net on a man-up chance for the Falcons with 10:54 left in the first. Lander quickly answered to cut the lead in half. The Bearcats added a second unanswered goal to cut the lead down to 4-3 before sophomore goal keeper Alex Egorshin kept LU off the board with back-to-back saves. Hunter added the final goal of the first quarter to send the game to the second with a 5-3 Montevallo lead.
 
Montevallo opened the second quarter on a man-up opportunity where Jackson Klewchuk took advantage for the sixth Falcon goal of the day. With 11:43 left in the half, Laberge tallied his third goal of the afternoon to give the Falcons a 7-3 lead. Moments later, Coleman Hargis beat the keeper for his first goal of the season with the assist credited to Klewchuk. Lander cut the Falcons lead to 8-4 at the 8:51 mark. Off a save from Egorshin, Laberge found the back of the net with 5:23 on the clock to send the Falcons to a 9-4 advantage. Montevallo's Jacob Obee answered a Lander goal with less than two minutes in the half to send the game to the half with a 10-5 Montevallo lead.
 
Montevallo opened the second half with three scoring chances that just missed the mark before Lander cut the lead back down to four at the 11:38 mark. The Falcons answered quickly with a Caden Chalut goal off the following faceoff win from Gerry York. The Bearcats added another goal but a pair of goals from Obee and Hunter lifted the Falcons to a 13-7 lead with 6:56 to play. Just over a minute later, Laberge scored on an unassisted effort just before Klewchuk moved the score to 15-7 with a man-up goal just 17 seconds later. The third quarter ended with a trio of Egorshin saves to send the game to the fourth with a 15-7 Montevallo lead.
 
Egorshin tallied three saves in the first two minutes of the final quarter before Lander scored back-to-back goals. The Bearcats added a man-up goal to trim Montevallo's lead down to 15-10 with 11:07 to play. Hunter ended the Bearcats' scoring run with an unassisted effort just over a minute later. Following a Lander goal, Laberge and Obee recorded back-to-back Falcon goals to go up 18-11 with just under seven minutes to play. Lander sliced into Montevallo's advantage with four unanswered goals to make it an 18-15 game with 3:09 on the clock. Boas helped to keep the Bearcats at arm's length with his fourth goal of the afternoon. Egorshin came up big with his 18^th save of the day just before Lander tallied the final goal of the game. With just 26 seconds on the clock, Montevallo held on to a 19-16 lead to move to 1-0 in conference action.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Montevallo 19 | Lander 16
Records: Montevallo 7-4 (1-0 PBC) | Lander 7-3 (0-1 PBC)
Location: Lacrosse Stadium | Montevallo, Ala.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
1^ST | The Falcons were outshot 13-10 in the opening 15 minutes but a 6-3 advantage on the faceoffs lifted the Falcons to a first quarter lead. Matthew Boas led the Falcons with three goals while Alex Egorshin tallied three saves in the first.
2^ND | Both sides were even offensively with eight shots apiece while the Falcons took a 10-6 lead in ground balls in the second. The Falcons shared the wealth in the second quarter with four different Falcons tallying a goal.
3^RD | Montevallo scored five goals for the third-consecutive quarter with 14 shots to just two goals on eight shots from Lander. Egorshin added five more saves to his line while five different Falcons added goals.
4^TH | Lander came roaring back in the final 15 minutes with nine goals on 20 shots sparked by 13 Montevallo turnovers. The Falcons dominated the faceoffs yet again with 13 wins to just one from Lander.
 
GAME NOTES

• Montevallo's attack was led by five goals from Zach Laberge while Matthew Boas tallied four on the day.
• Trevayne Hunter led Montevallo in points with seven on three goals and four assists.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Egorshin came up big for Montevallo with 18 saves on 49 shots faced.
• Once again, the Falcons controlled the faceoffs with a 30-8 advantage at the dot.
• Both sides took advantage of man-up chances with a 3-for-4 mark from the Falcons and a 2-for-4 mark from Lander.
• The Falcons struggled to handle the ball with 33 turnovers to just 15 from Lander.

 
UP NEXT: Montevallo continues the 2024 PBC campaign with a matchup against Shorter on the road on April 6.