MONROE, La.- After a productive off-season and a gritty performance against Stephen F. Austin in an exhibition match Friday, ULM head coach Keyton Wheelock and the women's soccer team are ready to battle Grambling State and Southeastern Louisiana to start the season.
ULM visits Grambling on Friday with kickoff set for 5:30 p.m. The Warhawks then head to Hammond to square off with Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday. Match time is set for 5 p.m.
The Warhawks will be led by team captains Bailey Botkin and Alexiss Trudeau. Botkin and Trudeau played an astounding amount of time last season with 1,779 minutes played combined.
"Alexiss is the leader that leads by example and Bailey's leadership qualities have stood out to me since her freshman year," Wheelock said.
Botkin and Trudeau will be joined by top scorers from last year, Cassidy Wiest and Mackenzie Bell.
Both Weist and Bell are sophomores and are expected to play an integral role for the team.
"It's cool to not only have senior leadership, but leadership from underclassmen as well," Wheelock said. "All of our girls have leadership qualities, but you can't name 25 captains."
In the off-season, Wheelock focused on depth to give the Warhawks the best competitive edge it could have.
"We haven't had a team this deep in my four years here," Wheelock said. "And I think if we stick to our process, this team can have a very good year."
Wheelock will have a chance to test that depth this weekend when the team travels to both Grambling and Southeastern.
Wheelock says that when you're playing against other teams from Louisiana, you need to be taking care of business.
Last season, Grambling won its first outright Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) regular season championship. However, the Tigers graduated six seniors, including five key starters.
"Grambling is a very athletic and physical team and we're going to be ready for that," Wheelock said.
Grambling will be led by top scorers Kaylee Holt and Kailey Pena. Both Holt and Pena combined for 21 goals and six assists last season.
After the Warhawks take on the Tigers on Friday, ULM will travel to Southeastern to battle the Lions on Sunday.
Southeastern had three selections to the All-Southland conference team last year, including returners Megan Gordan and Claire Huston.
"Southeastern is a completely different team than they were there years ago," Wheelock said. "Chris [McBride] has done a great job down there and his recruits are solid," said Wheelock. "That's a team that whether they're young or if they have experience, they're going to be ready to play."
Links to live coverage, including live stats and video for Sunday's game at Southeastern, can be found on the soccer schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com. Follow along with all things Warhawk Soccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @ULM_Soccer.
