MONROE, La. – After cruising to a 5-1 victory over Southern on Wednesday, the ULM Warhawks are set to open Sun Belt Conference play at 7 p.m. Friday against Arkansas State in Brown Stadium. The Warhawks will then travel to Alabama for a non-conference matchup against Alabama A&M at 1 p.m. Sunday.
"As far as I'm concerned, we're 0-0 now," head coach Keyton Wheelock said. "All that matters now is what happens in conference play."
ULM (3-3-1) has now scored 11 goals to start the season. That's four more than the team scored all of last season. The Warhawks have seven different players that have scored this season and are led by Melissa Taft, who has three goals. Taft is followed by Camryn Ciaramella and Taylor Altieri, who have two goals apiece.
Arkansas State (4-3) has had a productive start to the season and is coming off of a 1-0 victory against Southeast Missouri State. ULM is 3-10-1 all-time against the Red Wolves and 2-5 at home when the two teams match up. Arkansas State won last season's matchup 4-0.
The Red Wolves have given up 102 shots on the season, with 30 of those coming in the Texas Tech game. Arkansas State has been particularly good making sure those shots are not on frame, only giving up 36 shots on goal.
"They've been extremely consistent this far," Wheelock said. "They score a lot off of set pieces."
Sarah Sodoma will be the leader for the Red Wolves. Sodoma has five goals and four assists on the season. She will be joined by Hailey Furio, who has two goals and two assists.
"Sarah has been firing on all cylinders," Wheelock said. "She's quick and punishes teams with her quickness."
After the contest against Arkansas State, ULM will travel to Alabama to take on Alabama A&M. The Bulldogs (2-4) have been outscored 19-5 this season and have given up 123 shots in six games, 51 of those coming in the first two games.
Alabama A&M's leading scorer is D'Essence Burnett, who has two goals and one assist on the season.
"Anybody can beat anybody on any given day," Wheelock said. "We have to come out and take care of business."
A link to a live video stream of Friday's match against Arkansas State can be found on the schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com. Follow along with all things Warhawk Soccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @ULM_Soccer.
