FROM STAFF REPORTS

The University of Montevallo men’s soccer team (9-3-3) got back to its winning ways with a double-overtime 3-2 victory Oct. 18 over Young Harris College.

The Falcons (9-3-3) played 59 minutes with only 10 players after a red card was issued just 9:58 into the second half.

Despite being a man down, the Falcons found a way to score the game-winning goal with just 1:03 left on the clock in the second overtime on a breakaway. Junior Stefan Vaziri, an Oak Mountain High School graduate who transferred to Montevallo from Northern Illinois University before the season, used his speed to beat the defender down the flank while freshman Alex Morton made a run into the box. Vaziri found the streaking Morton for a one-on-one with the keeper, which Morton took advantage of to give the Falcons a 3-2 victory.

The Falcons outshot the Mountain Lions 15-14 and had a 10-8 advantage in shots on goal.

Freshman Jonathan Hilton made his first career start in goal for the Falcons and made six saves on the night while allowing a pair of goals.

Montevallo struck first just 13:51 into the first half as senior Phil Jackson lobbed a pass into junior Shane Howard, who collected the pass and used a flick to kick the ball over the head of the Young Harris keeper to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

The score remained 1-0 the rest of the first half.

Just 9:49 into the second half the Falcons were called for a foul inside their own penalty area, which allowed Young Harris a chance at a penalty kick. Andreas Pechmann connected on the attempt to tie the game at 1-1. Just nine seconds later Montevallo was given a red card, which gave the Mountain Lions a one-man advantage.

Despite the red card, the Falcons scored just six minutes later as Morton blasted a shot off the Young Harris keeper. The deflection came to the feet of Jackson, who kicked it into the open net to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead.

With less than eight minutes to play in regulation, Niall McCabe collected a misclear by the Falcons and shot the ball off the post to tie the game at 2-2.

Niether team had much of a scoring chance in the first overtime, but the Young Harris defense began to weaken in the second overtime period. Vaziri had a few runs behind the defense that did not result in a goal, but with less than two minutes to play, the work paid off as Vaziri made his run and found Morton for the go-ahead goal.

The Falcons will return to action Saturday, Oct. 22 at 3:30 p.m. as they host UNC-Pembroke in the final regular season home match of the year. The Falcons will honor their three seniors prior to the match.