MONROE, La. – The ULM Warhawks picked up a first-half goal and made it stand to pick up their first win of the 2019 season, knocking off Southern Miss 1-0 at Brown Stadium Sunday afternoon.

"It feels good to win," head coach Keyton Wheelock said. "You could see the pressure building and you could finally see the relief when the final whistle blew."

The game started with a quick pace. Southern Miss attacked hard and fast, but the Warhawk defense stood strong led by Bailey Botkin and Alexiss Trudeau.

"Bailey and Lexi showed so much grit and fire today," Wheelock said. "Lexi was extremely dominant in the air."

After a brief water break, ULM came out attacking with a new fire. At the 41 minute mark, Botkin launched the ball into the crowd and Khyjian Thomas hit the ball just enough to score for the Warhawks. ULM would hold the 1-0 lead going into halftime.

"Soccer isn't cookie-cutter. We read the field and got it," Wheelock said.

The Southern Miss attack during the second half was exponentially faster, lead by Ariel Diaz and Hailey Pohevitz. The two had a combined nine shots during the game. Angel Hailey was there to make a total of 11 saves on the day and kept the ULM lead alive.

"Hats off to Angel. She made some great saves today," Wheelock said.

In the last five minutes, the Golden Eagles threw everything they had at the Warhawks, but the ULM defense took charge to hold off Southern Miss and give ULM their first win of the season, 1-0.

"They [Southern Miss] threw a lot of numbers at us at the end," Wheelock said. "Our back line did a great job of heading it back in."

 "It wasn't pretty today, but we got the job done," Wheelock said.

ULM will remain at home to face Northwestern State on Friday at Brown Stadium. The game will start at 7 p.m.

Follow along with all things Warhawk Soccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @ULM_Soccer.