MONROE, La.- ULM soccer will get a chance to show off their skills this weekend in the first home games of the new season. The Warhawks (0-1-1) will take on I-20 rival Louisiana Tech on Friday at 7 p.m. followed by Southern Mississippi on Sunday. Both matches will be played at Brown Stadium.
Louisiana Tech is off to a good start this season having won their first four games. Tech soundly defeated Alcorn State over the weekend, 15-0. Tech took 42 shots in the game and didn't allow a shot from Alcorn either. They followed that up with a 3-0 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff before holding off LSU-Alexandria 2-1 on Tuesday.
"It's really hard at times to contain [Tech] because they send a lot of numbers forward," head coach Keyton Wheelock said. "With their movement off the ball, it gets a little tricky."
A potential pitfall for Tech is the amount of games that they will play before taking on ULM. After already playing Alcorn, UAPB and LSU-A, Tech plays Nicholls State on Wednesday, all before playing the Warhawks.
"It's hard to keep your legs under you after playing that many games in a week," Wheelock said. "It takes a lot out of you. And that's just more motivation for us."
ULM will have to watch out for two big players for Louisiana Tech. Amber Posthauer recorded a single-game program record of six goals against Alcorn State. Autumn Woodard also recorded a hat trick during that game.
"We can't hyper-focus on a few players. Tech is a team and we're going to focus on that team," Wheelock said.
After the Warhawks take on LA Tech, ULM will then host Southern Miss on Sunday.
Southern Miss is 0-2 on the season and is coming off of a 3-2 loss to Southeastern Missouri St.
"Southern Miss is a well-coached and well-organized team," Wheelock said. "Mo [El-Zare] has done an incredible job down there and they'll try to possess the ball as much as possible."
It's always a different atmosphere when a team gets to play at home and Wheelock is excited for the opportunity.
"We're in this together offensively and defensively and we have to go take care of business," Wheelock said. "It's an exciting time for our program."
Links to live coverage, including live stats, for both games 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.
