MONTEVALLO, Ala. (November 7, 2021) – The 8^th-seeded Spring Hill College (SHC) men's soccer team advanced to the semifinal round of the 2021 Gulf South Conference (GSC) Men's Soccer Championship Tournament on Sunday night with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over the 13^th-ranked and No. 1 seeded University of Montevallo (UM) Falcons at Varsity Field.

The Falcons (13-3-2) jumped on top 1-0 with an early breakaway run up the center of the pitch by Cyprien N'Goma who found Edorta Cabieces Sanz who ripped a score into the top right drawer in the 10^th minute of play.

With their backs against the wall and facing an early exit from the tournament, the Badgers did not panic. Their patience would pay off when senior midfielder Matthew Moreno found the game-tying goal in the 62^nd minute with a poke into the bottom center of the net after a beautifully placed entry from fellow senior Diogo Sousa.

Seven minutes later, SHC tallied the game-winner when sophomore Joao Amaral drove the ball into the top center of the goal after cleaning up a blocked shot from senior Sacha Ducreux.

The final nerve-wracking 28 minutes saw the Badgers fend off numerous offensive chances by the Falcons, but they also used their heads and crafty ball possession on the offense end to milk out the clock to best of their abilities. In a final offensive charge by Montevallo over the last two minutes, the Falcons brought their keeper out of the goal for a man advantage, but the Badgers used the sidelines to their advantage by keeping the ball out of bounds, forcing UM to burn the clock with throw-in plays. An intercepted entry attempt and a towering clearance kick by SHC senior keeper Alessandro Erdelyi resulted in the final whistle from the referee as a jubilant Badger bench squad stormed the field.

Erdelyi (11-7) made nine saves against 16 shots and four corner kicks by Montevallo while the Falcons' Salvador Plaza (7-2-1) made five saves versus 17 shots and 11 corner attempts from SHC.

After the match, an emotional SHC head coach Chris Leonardi was animated in his comments. "What a second half by the boys!" he exclaimed. "After giving up the early goal, the guys still created some chances in the first half, but without any end product. The second half was a different story with a great goal by Matthew and Joao following up a great shot from Sacha."

Leonardi praised his team's heart. "The last 10 minutes showed the things I have seen from these guys all season," he said. "WORK, WORK, WORK! Alessandro had a couple of great saves and we defended with passion. I am proud of the boys and delighted to be back at training next week, because a lot of good teams won't have that privilege."

The Badgers (11-7) will now face the 4^th-seeded Lee University Flames (12-4-1) in the tournament semifinal round at Ashton Brosnaham Park in Pensacola, Fla. on Friday at 3:30 p.m. Earlier this year, the Badgers took a hard-fought 1-0 overtime victory over the Flames at home on October 17.