MOBILE, Ala. – Junior Karlea Fehr scored to put the ULM soccer program ahead 1-0, but defending Sun Belt Conference Tournament champions South Alabama rallied back for a 7-2 decision on Friday at The Cage.
Fehr's shot for the Warhawks (7-5-1, 1-2 SBC) came in the 27th minute. The play got started on a counter-attack as freshman Danielle LaFrance fed a through-ball from mid-field to Fehr down the left side. Fehr made a couple of dribbles toward the center and aimed for the lower right corner for the goal for her sixth score of the season.
The Jaguars (10-2, 2-0 SBC), who were picked to win the league in the SBC Preseason poll, answered with three goals before the half to leap ahead. Monique Autmon scored the first in the 36th minute and Sophie Haywood and Rio Hardy each registered a tally in the next four minutes.
ULM trailed 5-1 in the second half when sophomore Lauren Palmer drilled a shot over the goalkeeper's head from the top of the penalty box. Freshman Karen Tamayo made a run and fed Palmer who took a dribble to her right and fired for the score in the 76th minute. Palmer's first goal of the season and second of her career cut the deficit to 5-2.
The Jaguars had scored a pair in the second half to extend their lead. They scored in the 62nd minute on a goal from Steffi Hardy. It came originally off a corner kick, but after the ball danced around the six-yard box Hardy was able to finish the loose ball. Nini Rabsatt-Smith scored USA's fifth goal.
After Palmer scored, USA added on with a goal in the 78th minute by Danielle Henley to make it 6-2. Its final mark came in the 87th minute from Chelsea Followwell.
ULM had a couple of chances early in the second half as USA goalkeeper Sarah Hay (7-1) made a pair of saves on junior Kelley O'Dwyer on fast breaks. The Warhawks registered the first five shots of the half.
Sophomore goalkeeper Katherine Werther (6-2) took the loss after making nine saves. ULM used 22 different student-athletes in the contest. Senior Cerene Arsenault played a team-high 82 minutes as a center-back.
“South Alabama is a very good team. I know the game ended 7-2 but I don't think they are 7-2 better than us. We got off to a good start and scored the first goal of the game. We made a few errors in the back and went into halftime down 3-1. We pushed early in the second half and had a few chances one-on-one with the keeper. It was just unfortunate that we didn't get one of those because it would have changed the whole complexion of the game,” said ULM head coach Roberto Mazza. “Our team is always good at coming back and I'm not too worried about the final result of this game. We leave here uninjured and we were able to give some players some rest so we will be fine Sunday.”
The Warhawks will close out the weekend at Troy on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at the Troy Soccer Complex.
Follow the ULM soccer program on twitter, @ULM_Soccer, for live in-game updates. Support the Warhawks through participating in the Athletic Foundation, you can join the ULMAF by calling 318-342-5415.
