MONROE, La. – Sophomore McKenzie Rizqi scored her second-career goal in the first half while freshman Janet Stopka moved into a six-way tie for sixth place on the single season goals list with her sixth and seventh goals of the season as ULM topped Southern, 3-0, Saturday afternoon at Brown Stadium.
On a day where temperatures hovered around freezing with a north breeze, ULM outshot Southern, 23-5, with 12 shots on goal.
"I thought we did really well in a couple of patches today," ULM head coach Sean Fraser said. "When we executed our game plan we looked a real threat."
The Warhawks struck first in the 17th minute as Rizqi scored off an assist by Victoria Altieri for the 1-0 lead. For Rizqi, it is her first goal since Oct. 20, 2019 at Georgia Southern, while Altieri notched her first assist since her first career game at Grambling State on Aug. 23, 2019. Rizqi's goal held to halftime for the 1-0 advantage.
In the second half, Southern used the north breeze to their advantage early, controlling possession in their offensive end of the field. Three of the Jaguars five shots on the match came in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
"There were a couple moments where we let them off the hook a little and a couple moments defensively and we will need to look at those," Fraser said.
ULM shifted possession to their offensive end later in the half. In the 78th minute, Stopka took a ball of a deflection and scored in front of the net for the 2-0 lead.
In the 85th minute, Stopka struck again, taking a feed from Ashley Johnson on the right side in front of the net and fired it into the goal to push the lead to 3-0.
"Janet will get some headlines because she's scored another two goals," Fraser said. "She deserves them, but I feel that Victoria Altieri took a big step forward in her development today, as did Madi Garza in the midfield."
Stopka and Rizqi had five shots each with three on goal. Madi Garza had four shots with three on frame.
Hailey Hillock and Mickaela Leal combined on their second shutout of the spring in net. Hillock played the first half while Leal played the second half as the pair had two saves each.
ULM is scheduled to face Texas A&M in an exhibition match for the Warhawks at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in College Station. The Warhawks return to Brown Stadium at 1 p.m. Feb. 21 to face Grambling State. Links to live stats are available on the soccer schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.
