MONROE, La. – The ULM women's soccer team is still on the road for its opening weekend of the 2018 season. The Warhawks are headed to Southern Miss on Sunday (Aug. 19).
The Golden Eagles of Southern Miss have had an extra day of rest, after falling to Mississippi State in their season opener on Thursday (Aug. 16), 3-0. Southern Miss was outshot 21-2 and did not have any opportunities for set pieces, as Mississippi State's six corner kicks were the only ones called.
The Golden Eagles have brought back three of their top-five point scorers from last year, as well as 2017 All-Conference USA First-Team defender Ola Akinniyi.
ULM and USM have only met four times in the history of the series, with Southern Miss claiming wins in all four matches. The two teams met most recently in 2017 when the Warhawks fell to the Golden Eagles, 3-1.
"Southern Miss is a heavy possession team," said head soccer coach
Keyton Wheelock. "We will have to make sure that every pass we make is well thought and our set pieces are organized perfectly in order to maintain control of the game. They've got a lot of powerful players and we will have to match them to compete."
The Warhawks lone goal against the Golden Eagles in 2017 came from a cross ball, that junior
Erika Wiest took advantage of- netting the goal late in the game.
Wiest's goal was the first of the 2017 season for ULM, and interestingly enough, her younger sister Cassidy scored the Warhawks first goal of 2018 just last night against Jacksonville State.
The freshman's goal came with only 20 minutes left in the match, cutting the Gamecock's lead to 2-1, but despite some last minute efforts to put a ball in the net, ULM fell to JSU in a stormy Jacksonville, Alabama.
Senior goalkeeper
Brooke-Lynn Scroggins picked up right where she left off last year, finishing the night with nine saves despite 19 shots from the Gamecocks.
The Warhawks had a much better second-half performance on Friday, shutting down the JSU offense and cutting their shot attempts in half. Jacksonville State fired off 13 shots in the first 45, but only 6 in the second.
ULM will face Southern Miss on Sunday at 1 p.m. (ET). Links to live stats and video is available at ULMWarhawks.com. 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.
