BATON ROUGE, La. ? The ULM women's soccer team kicked off the 2007 season in style, picking up a 2-0 victory against Southern University at A.W. Mumford Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. on Friday night.
In addition to picking up ULM's first athletic victory of the 2007-08 sporting season, The Warhawk soccer program achieved a program milestone. For the first time in the nine-year history of ULM soccer, the Warhawks opened the season with a win.
“We talked in our pre-game today about how we had never won a season opener before,” ULM soccer head coach Stacy Lamb said. “We are excited that we were able to accomplish something we had never done before and that we were able to get ULM's first athletic win of the year.”
Sophomore Sara Islas provided the game winner for the Warhawks, finding the back of the net on a deflection at the 29:08 mark in the first half. Sophomore Raydan Phillips picked up the assist on the play.
Junior Kendall Dawkins gave ULM (1-0) all the insurance it would need in the 60th minute. Dawkins beat the Southern (0-2) defense on a great 1v1 move to tally the unassisted goal, the third of her career and first since Sept. 9, 2005.
“Kendall Dawkins really stepped up and had a great game,” Lamb said. “She created a lot for us, but wasn't the only one. Our freshman stepped up big for us tonight. I don't think if anybody had watched this game that they would have been able to distinguish between our newcomers and our returning players.”
Sophomore Mallory George picked up where she left off last year, posting a 90-minute shutout. George faced only two shots, picking up a pair of saves. As a unit, the Warhawks allowed only seven Southern shots while firing 33 against the Jaguar defense.
ULM returns to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. when they face Grambling State at Lady Tiger Soccer Field in Grambling, La. The Tigers are the defending SWAC champions and a 2006 NCAA Tournament participant.
“Grambling is going to be a very tough opponent,” Lamb said. “They are fast, strong and athletic. They have a conference championship under their belts. We played against them this spring a couple of times and split. We know we can enjoy our win tonight, but we have to get back to work on Sunday.”
