ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - ULM concludes the regular season with Senior Night at 6 p.m. Thursday against Old Dominion at Brown Stadium. The Warhawks (9-2-6 overall, 4-1-4 Sun Belt Conference) are coming off their fourth tie of the month and sixth of the season after rallying for a 2-2 draw at Southern Miss on Sunday. The Monarchs (10-2-4, 5-2-2) played a scoreless draw against Georgia State on Sunday.

Both teams still have plenty on the line for the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Championship, which begins next week in Foley, Alabama. ULM has an outside shot at winning the Sun Belt West Division, but the Warhawks do not control their own destiny. If Arkansas State defeats South Alabama on Thursday, ULM wins the West Division and will be the No. 2 seed in next week's SBC Championship. If South Alabama wins, ULM can finish anywhere from the No. 3 seed to the No. 7 seed in the bracket, depending on the Warhawks' result and other results around the conference. Old Dominion has clinched the East Division, and can finish as either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the SBC Championship pending the outcome of South Alabama's match against Arkansas State. ODU is the defending SBC champions.

FOLLOW THE WARHAWKS -
Links to live stats and video streams for all matches, when available, can be found at ULMWarhawks.com. Navigate to the soccer schedule page and select that day's opponent.

LAST TIME OUT -
MONROE, La. – First half goals by Mara Grutkamp, Eve Blakey and Emelie Kobler gave ULM all it needed, and Mickaela Leal posted a shutout in goal as the Warhawks rolled to a 3-0 win over Troy Thursday night at Brown Stadium.
 
Grutkamp started the scoring in the 12th minute with her second goal of the season. Two minutes later, Blakey found the back of the net off an assist by Lucia Lobato to double the lead, 2-0.
 
Kobler capped the scoring in the 30th minute, with an assist by Grutkamp, as ULM led, 3-0.
 
Leal played all 90 minutes in goal for ULM, making two saves to earn the shutout.
 
ULM outshot Troy (5-9-2, 0-6-2), 21-4, including a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal.

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – ULM used a pair of second half goals to rally and salvage a 2-2 draw against Southern Miss Sunday at the Southern Miss Track & Field and Soccer Complex.
 
Southern Miss scored a pair of goals in the first half to build a 2-0 lead, as Chloe Taylor scored in the 19th minute and Adaira Nakano doubled the lead in the 32nd minute.
 
ULM fought back in the second half. Emelie Kobler scored off an assist by Inge Konst in the 49th minute to cut the gap in half, 2-1. It marked Kobler's third goal of the season, all in the last four contests, while Konst earned her team-leading 21st point on her fifth assist of the season.
 
A red card was issued to USM's Natalie Wilson in the 59th minute, giving ULM an 11-on-10 advantage for the final 31 minutes.
 
The Warhawks took advantage in the 74th minute as Lena Göppel scored off Libby Holmes' assist to equalize the match at 2.
 
ULM had the only shot on goal in the final 16 minutes of the match, but Mara Grutkamp's goal was stopped by USM goalkeeper Alex Helbling to preserve the draw.
 
ULM outshot USM, 12-6, including a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal. Mickaela Leal made one save in 90 minutes in goal for ULM, while Helbling had four saves in playing all 90 minutes.

SENIOR DAY -
ULM will recognize eight players for Senior Night on Thursday: Alexa Castro, Lena Goppel, Inge Konst, Mickaela Leal, Lucia Lobato, Samantha Maudsley, Santana Pressley and Janet Stopka.

WARHAWKS RISING IN RPI -
ULM remained at No. 60 in the latest RPI, released by the NCAA on Monday. On Oct. 9, ULM moved up to No. 53. It is believed to be the best RPI ranking in program history.

The Warhawks moved up into the Top 60 by playing to a draw against South Alabama (RPI No. 32) and James Madison (RPI No. 47). ULM also has a 1-0 loss to RPI No. 22 Mississippi State on the slate. ULM has one more opportunity against an RPI Top 60 opponent on the regular season schedule when they host No. 58 Old Dominion on Oct. 26.

KONST CONTINUES TO MAKE MARK, MOVE UP RECORD LISTS - 
Junior Inge Konst has piled up 21 points over the first 17 contests of the 2023 season, moving her up on the career points, career goals, career assists, career penalty kicks made, career shots, single season points and single season goals lists.

The native of Balk, Netherlands, scored her eighth goal of the season in the 19th minute on Oct. 15 at Arkansas State and then added an assist last Sunday at Southern Miss, her fifth of the season. It marked the 51st career point for Konst, which has her in third on ULM's all-time points list, behind only Karlea Fehr (56 points, 2012-15) and Cindy Barker (53 points, 2000-03). She has 19 career goals, which ties her with former teammate Courtney Marten (2020/21-22) for third on the career goals list. She trails only Barker (22 goals, 2000-03) and teammate Janet Stopka (20 goals, 2020/21-present) on the list. She now has 21 points (8 goals, 5 assists) to sit in a tie for sixth on the single season points list with Stopka's 21-point effort in the 2020-21 season. Her eight goals this season is tied for sixth most in a single season in program history, tied with her 2022 effort and three others. Her five assists is tied for eighth most in a single season in program history and her 13 career assists is tied for sixth most all time.

Konst extended her lead as ULM's all-time leader in penalty kicks made with a goal in the 41st minute against Texas State on Oct. 8. It was her sixth converted penalty of the season, extending the program's new single-season record, which alone would set the career converted penalty kick goal record. It was the ninth converted penalty of her career.

Konst became ULM's all-time leader in made penalty kicks made with her goal in the 14th minute against Southeastern on Sept. 7. She then added an assist on a goal by Libby Holmes later in the match.

Konst scored in the second minute and added an assist in the second half in the August 24 3-3 tie at Louisiana Tech. She tallied two penalty kick goals against Sam Houston on Aug. 20, with her second goal in the 76th minute putting ULM ahead for good.

Konst has moved into seventh on the career shots list with 128 shots, one behind Tiffany Bombard (2007-10) and Allison Matson (2003-07) for fifth place.

BLAISE-ING A NEW PATH -
ULM junior Skylar Blaise has moved into second place on the team in points after posting the 10th match with six-or-more points in program history on Oct. 8 against Texas State. Blaise tallied two goals and two assists for six points against the Bobcats, giving her 11 for the season on four goals and three assists.

Blaise's six points against Texas State ties her for the third-most points in a single match in program history.

She netted a goal on her only shot in 44 minutes in a win against the Ragin' Cajuns on Sept. 24. She scored her first goal as a Warhawk in the 2-1 win over Jackson State on Sept. 3. Her first point at ULM was an assist in a 3-1 win vs. Texas A&M-Commerce on Aug. 31.

Blaise was a Second-Team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches in 2022 at Lake Tahoe Community College after leading all junior college players nationally with 27 assists and leading the state of California with 23 goals to accumulate 73 points for the season. She was the sixth All-American in Lake Tahoe program history.

STOPKA LEAVES A LEGACY AT ULM - 
Junior Janet Stopka tallied four goals in 11 games in 2023, moving her into second place on ULM's career goals scored list with 20. She tallied a brace with two goals against Marshall on Sept. 17 for her sixth career multi-goal game. She scored her first goal of the 2023 season on Aug. 24 against Louisiana Tech and scored the game-winning goal on Sept. 3 against Jackson State to continue to move up ULM's career points and goals lists. Stopka passed former teammate Courtney Marten (19, 2020/21-22) for second on the all-time list on Sept. 17 at Marshall. She trails only Cindy Barker (22, 2000-03) for the most goals in program history. 

She had two game-winning goals this season, coming against Marshall and JSU. Her six career game-winning goals are tied for the most in program history with Marten and Tara Balogh (2001-05).

Stopka scored her first assist of 2023 on Aug. 31 against Texas A&M-Commerce. She had 44 career points (18 goals, four assists), which ranks fourth in program history behind Karlea Fehr (56, 2012-15), Barker (53, 2000-03) and Chelsea Shriner (45, 2000-02).

Stopka set a then school record with 10 goals in the 2020-21 season. She added four goals in 2021 and two goals in 2022 before sustaining season-ending injuries in each season, playing in just 10 total matches between the two seasons.

GRUTKAMP ASSISTING WARHAWKS TO SUCCESS - 
Junior Mara Grutkamp continues to move up the career record book and is now in sole possession of second place with 17 career assists, moving ahead of Kelley O'Dwyer (2012-15) with 14 career assists. Grutkamp  has four assists in the last five games, including one last Thursday against Troy. She assisted on both goals in the Oct. 15 2-2 draw at Arkansas State.

She picked up her first assist of 2023 in the season opener at Tarleton State by firing a free kick into the box, where Lucia Lobato deflected it into the net to tie the match at 1 in the 87th minute. She added her second assist on the equalizing goal by Janne Van Brummelen in the 35th minute at Marshall on Sept. 17. Her third assist of the season came on Oct. 5 at James Madison on Lena Goppel's goal in the fourth minute.

Although she now is second in program history in assists, Grutkamp is just over halfway to tying the ULM career assists record, held by Karlea Fehr (2012-15) with 24.

Grutkamp ranks fourth in career shots with 143. Her goal and assist against Troy last Thursday gave her 41 career points, moving her into sixth on the career points list. Her goal against Troy was the 12th of her career, putting her one goal away from cracking the career Top-10 list. She is now tied for seventh with four career game-winning goals.

LOBATO MAKING MOST OF FINAL SEASON -
One of just three seniors on ULM's 2023 roster, Lucia Lobato has set a career high for goals in a season with three in 2023. The native of Galway, Ireland, scored the equalizing goal in the 88th minute at Tarleton State and added a goal in the comeback effort at Louisiana Tech. She found the back of the net at Arkansas State last Sunday for her third goal of the season. Out of her seven shots this season, six have been on goal. She chipped in her first assist of the season against Troy on Oct. 19.

In her three seasons at ULM, Lobato has five goals with six assists for 16 points, while firing 34 shots and putting 20 on goal. She had two goals and two assists over her two seasons at Akron prior to transferring to ULM.

FRESHMAN HOLMES MAKING AN IMPACT - 
Freshman Libby Holmes earned her sixth career point with an assist on Lena Goppel's goal to equalize last Sunday's match at Southern Miss, 2-2. It had been just over a month since her fifth career point, an assist on Janet Stopka's second goal at Marshall, on Sept. 17. She scored her first career goal off an assist from Inge Konst to put ULM up 2-0 against Southeastern on Sept. 7. She earned her first career points on a pair of assists in the Aug. 24 3-3 draw at Louisiana Tech. Holmes fired off three shots, putting two on frame, while playing all 90 minutes. The Shefford, Bedfordshire, England native has played all 90 minutes 16 times in her first collegiate season, and has started all 17 matches.

LEAL, CASTRO BATTLING FOR GOALKEEPER POSITION - 
Junior Mickaela Leal and senior Alexa Castro have split time in net almost evenly through the first 17 matches of the season. Leal has typically played the first half and Castro the second half for the Warhawks. However, Leal has played all 90 minutes in each of the last two matches.

Leal is ULM's all-time career leader in goals against average at 1.06. She is fourth with six career shutouts and third with 17 career wins. She entered the program's Top 10 list for career saves this season and is now ninth with 98 saves. Castro has not allowed a goal in nine of her 14 appearances in 2023, posting 27 saves.

RALLYHAWKS - 
ULM has displayed a flair for the dramatic by trailing in eight matches in the season, but rallying for either a win or a draw in six of those matches.

ULM trailed 2-0 at halftime at Southern Miss, but a goal by Emelie Kobler off an assist from Inge Konst in the 49th minute cut the gap in half. The Warhawks then equalized in the 74th minute when Lena Goppel scored off Libby Holmes' assist.

The Warhawks trailed Marshall 1-0 in the 21st minute but tied the match by the 35th minute on a goal by Janne Van Brummelen. ULM took the lead behind two goals from Janet Stopka in the second half to earn the 3-1 win on Sept. 17.

The Warhawks trailed Jackson State 1-0 at the half on Sept. 3 before scoring two second half goals, including the go-ahead goal by Janet Stopka in the 82nd minute, for the 2-1 win. ULM trailed Texas A&M-Commerce 1-0 in the first half before scoring three unanswered goals for the 3-1 victory.

The Warhawks rallied from deficits in the final 10 minutes to earn draws in two of the first three matches, picking up a 1-1 tie at Tarleton State on Aug. 17 and a 3-3 tie at Louisiana Tech on Aug. 24.

ULM trailed Tarleton State 1-0 inside the final three minutes when the Warhawks scored on a set piece. Mara Grutkamp fired a ball into the box, where Lucia Lobato headed it past the goalkeeper to level the match in the 87th minute.

The Warhawks fell behind 3-1 at Louisiana Tech on Aug. 24, but rallied in the final 20 minutes of the match. First, Stopka scored off an assist from Inge Konst to get back within a goal in the 72nd minute. Then, Lobato knotted her second game-tying goal of the season, this time on an assist from Libby Holmes, in the 85th minute to earn the 3-3 draw.

ROBERTS TAKES THE REIGNS -
After spending three seasons as an assistant coach at ULM, Will Roberts accepted his first collegiate head coaching job with the Warhawks in January. A native of Denbigh, North Wales, Roberts has helped ULM reach new heights over the last three seasons, including just the second 10-win season in program history in 2022. The Warhawks increased their win total in each of his three seasons as an assistant coach, going from a winless season prior to his arrival to five wins in 2020-21, eight wins in 2021 and 10 wins in 2022. Roberts is assisted by Matthew Caley, who was promoted from his role as a graduate assistant.

A LOOK AHEAD –
ULM opens play in the Sun Belt Conference Championship either Monday, Oct. 30, or Wednesday, Nov. 1.