MONROE, La. – The ULM women's soccer team is still on the hunt for a spot at the Sun Belt conference tournament later this month, but that road runs through Atlanta, Georgia and Conway, South Carolina. The Warhawks will load the busses for a weekend away from home as they face Georgia State on Friday (Oct. 5) and Coastal Carolina on Sunday (Oct. 7).
ULM (0-12, 0-5) has been outshot, on average, by 15 shots in each of its twelve matches. Only twice this year did the Warhawks surpass double-digit shot attempts, against Southeastern (Sept. 7) and Georgia Southern (Sept. 28).
The Warhawks are coming off back-to-back home losses, first to Georgia Southern in a 7-2 shootout, and then to Little Rock in a 1-0 defensive showdown. The one-goal loss to Little Rock marked the four time this season ULM dropped a one-goal decision, and the second within a week.
As a whole, the ULM goal keeping unit has allowed 45 goals, but made 96 saves- a league high. Senior
Brooke-Lynn Scroggins and freshman
Bre Truscott have split starts in the net, with six a piece. Truscott leads the Warhawks with 53 saves and a 3.03 goals allowed average.
Freshmen
Cassidy Wiest and
Mackenzie Bell lead ULM with two goals each. Wiest notched her second of the season against Georgia Southern. Bell has recorded 15 shots this season, a team-best.
Georgia State (3-9-1, 1-4) tallied its first conference win this past weekend, defeating Troy 3-2. Both teams were knotted up at 2-2 with less than ten minutes on the clock when Georgia State's Brooke Smith scored unassisted at the start of the 86
th minute.
Brooke Shank, a junior midfielder for the Panthers leads her squad in shots, and ranks eighth in the conference with 28 shots. Her four goals ranks her third in the league, just behind Little Rock's Jaclyn Purvine (7) and Texas State's Kaylee Davis (10).
Georgia State and ULM sit at the bottom of the current league standings. Texas State and Appalachian state lead the Sun Belt, standing in first and second place respectively.
Overall this season, ULM has only netted six goals, but falls only two behind Georgia State who has managed only eight. The Ragin' Cajuns and Coastal Carolina have also recorded only eight goals this season.
ULM and Georgia State will face off in Atlanta at 6 p.m. (CT) on Friday.
Coastal Carolina, ULM's Sunday opponent, will host the Ragin' Cajuns on Friday (Oct. 5) before the Warhawks come to town.
The Chanticleers (4-5-1, 3-1) kicked-off conference play at 1-4-1, but have since won three of their four league games.
Junior midfielder Hannah Miller is fifth in the Sun Belt, averaging 2.5 shots per game. Her two goals were both game winners for CCU, netted against Davidson in the season opener (Aug. 17) and in a 2-1 win over Troy (Sept. 23).
Last season, the Warhawks fell to Georgia State in a 1-0 heart-breaker, but turned around two days later to defeat Coastal Carolina, 2-0. Sophomore forward
Taylor Altieri recorded the insurance goal at the 73:20 mark. The shot on goal was Altieri only shot of the game.
After returning from the east coast, ULM will have four straight home games to end the season: South Alabama (Oct. 12), Appalachian State (Oct. 19), Troy (Oct. 21), and Grambling State (Oct. 24).
Fans are encouraged to follow along with the action on Twitter at @ULM_soccer for live, in-game updates. Complete box score and match recap will be available at ULMWarhawks.com shortly following the match.
