MOBILE, Ala. ? The ULM soccer team's defense played strong again, but couldn't overcome a second half goal in the Warhawks 1-0 loss against South Alabama at “The Cage” on Sunday afternoon.
“We played a good first half even though we didn't execute on our game plan,” ULM soccer head coach Stacy Lamb said. “We had a lot of good scoring chances early, but just couldn't find the back of the net.”
The Warhawks were officially out shot by an 11-2 margin in the first half, but sophomore goalkeeper Mallory George recorded six saves to keep the Jaguars off the board.
After playing through a scoreless first half, South Alabama (9-6-3, 4-4-2 Sun Belt) picked up the game winner in the 53rd minute when Tiara Smith scored her 11th goal of the season on a service pass from Liz Clark.
The ULM defense locked up in the second half, allowing only four shots from the Jaguars.
“South Alabama is a physical team and we knew that coming in,” Lamb said. “We won all the 50-50 balls in the first half but came out tentatively in the second. We gave up another soft goal that cost us. It is something that we will have to learn from so that we won't continue to make the same mistakes.”
The loss for the Warhawks marked the fifth time this season that ULM (7-11-1, 3-6-1 Sun Belt) has been defeated by a 1-0 score. Of ULM's six Sun Belt Conference losses, five are by a single goal.
The Warhawks return to action on Friday when they host Louisiana-Lafayette in the regular season finale at the ULM Soccer Complex at 3 p.m.
