MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Montevallo men's lacrosse is set to open the 2026 season with a trip to Emmanuel on Friday, Jan. 30.
 
"The goal is to always win the AQ, but to put yourself in a position to get that large is something that we have to do. And I think our schedule ah puts us in that position with the quality of teams that we're playing. And there's a lot of teams on the schedule that are very good that were not in the NCAA tournament last year that I think very well could have been. So, we're really excited to get this thing going and looking forward to competing against some of the best teams in the country," said Head Coach Jason Lange.
 
Montevallo opens the season with a four-game road trip kicked off by a trip to Emmanuel on Jan. 30 before heading to Embry-Riddle, Saint Leo and North Greenville in early February. The Falcons return home for a four-game homestand against Mars Hill, Belmont Abbey, Anderson and Young Harris before heading out for a road matchup against Tampa on March 14. Montevallo then takes on Palm Beach Atlantic in a neutral site matchup on March 15 before closing the nonconference schedule at Maryville on March 21. Lange's squad then kicks off Peach Belt Conference action against PBC newcomer Virginia State on March 28 before heading to Huntsville, Ala. for a matchup against Alabama Huntsville on April 4. Montevallo closes the 2026 regular season with a road trip to Flagler College on April 11 before taking on Lander on April 18 for Senior Day.
 
"In order to, in Division II, to be in contention to make the NCAA tournament, you have to play a good schedule, and you need to play good teams. And I think, you know, we were able to elevate our schedule from last year with some of the teams that we added, Tampa being one of them. And it's an opportunity, that weekend at Tampa is an opportunity to showcase our program… we have four teams on our schedule that played in the NCAA tournament last year. North Greenville, Maryville, Anderson, and Tampa. uh Maryville and Tampa, we're in the semifinal uh with Tampa advancing," said Lange.
 
The Falcons were voted second in the PBC conference behind No. 1 Flagler, and ahead of Lander who was voted third and fourth place UAH. Virginia State rounded out the preseason poll as the No. 5 team in the PBC.
 
"We had a pretty good year last year. Not great. I think every team in the Peach Belt  would probably tell you the same thing. It's based off last year's accomplishments and it's a new year with new teams. And we'll see by the end of it how smart uh the head coaches in the league were and see if teams were put in the right spots."
 
A season ago, the Falcons finished with a 10-6 overall record while going just 1-2 in conference play to finish third in the Peach Belt Conference. Montevallo took an early exit from the PBC tournament after falling to Flagler in the first round of the conference tournament. The Falcons led the PBC in 2025 with an average of 15.06 goals per game while adding 24.44 points per game with 9.38 assists per contest. The Falcons will look to carry its strong defense into 2026 after leading the conference with 15.75 saves per game and a .594 save percentage.
 
A trio of Falcons were named to the PBC Preseason All-Conference team with Matthew Boas, Alex Egorshin and Brandon Shaffner earning the preseason honor. Boas, the 2025 PBC Co-Offensive Player of the Year, comes off a season that saw the senior score a league-high 54 goals while adding 18 assists to top the 2025 PBC standings with 72 points on the season. His 2025 campaign also featured a USA Lacrosse All-America Honorable Mention.
 
Egorshin, the 2025 PBC Defensive Player of the Year, finished the 2025 season with a PBC-best 10.97 goals against average while tallying a league high .601 save percentage and a total of 236 saves. The Hoover, Ala. native added a pair of All-South Region honors while also named a USILA All-America Honorable Mention.
 
Shaffner tallied a Preseason All-Conference award after finishing third in the nation with a .697 faceoff win percentage on a 230-for-330 faceoff mark during the 2025 season. The Louisville, Ky. native also led the PBC with a total of 139 ground balls on the season to set the UM single-season record. Shaffner was named Second Team All-PBC in 2025 and was named USILA All-America Honorable mention.
 
"I think obviously with Alex being a returning All-American and uh Brandon Schaffner. You know, those guys have been awesome, but so have all our guys, especially our seniors. know, Kaden Shalhoub, Matthew Bose, Ryan Andrews, Nick Gacca. I mean, all those guys have done a really good job and then there's a few other guys that ah haven't maybe contributed as much on game day that have been playing really well. ah So I think the senior class as a whole has really been pushing us pulling, us pushing us in the right direction um, and there's a lot of younger guys that you know play a little bit last year that have really stepped into some important roles for us," said Lange.