ULM Warhawks

MATCH 13: ULM WARHAWKS (7-2-3, 2-1-1) at JAMES MADISON DUKES (6-2-4, 3-0-1)
7 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. CDT, Thursday, October 5, 2023 | Sentara Park | Harrisonburg, Virginia
TV/STREAM: ESPN+ | LIVE STATS: JMUSports.com

MATCH 14: TEXAS STATE BOBCATS (6-4-2, 1-1-2) at ULM WARHAWKS (7-2-3, 2-1-1)
1 p.m., Sunday, October 8, 2023 | Brown Stadium | Monroe, Louisiana
TV/STREAM: ESPN+ | LIVE STATS: ULMWarhawks.com

MATCH NOTES

MONROE, La. - ULM takes on a pair of Sun Belt Conference foes this week as the Warhawks travel to Harrisonburg, Virginia, for its first-ever meeting with James Madison at 7 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. EDT Thursday before returning home to battle Texas State at 1 p.m. Sunday at Brown Stadium. The Warhawks played South Alabama to a 1-1 draw last Sunday in its only match of the week.

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. – Another penalty kick goal by ULM's Inge Konst gave the Warhawks a chance to end South Alabama's unbeaten run, but a goal by the Jaguars' Chiara Singarella in the 84th minute knotted the match and led to a 1-1 draw between ULM and USA Sunday afternoon at Brown Stadium.

ULM (7-2-3 overall, 2-1-1 Sun Belt Conference) gave unbeaten South Alabama (9-0-3, 2-0-2) a challenge, limiting the Jaguars' high-octane offense to just seven total shots and two on goal for the match. The Warhawks had nine shots, putting three on goal.

After the two played a scoreless first half, the Warhawks put the pressure on the Jaguars in the 60th minute. A foul on USA's Cloey Uddenberg in the penalty area gave Konst the penalty kick opportunity, which she converted. It was her ULM record fifth penalty kick goal of the season and sixth overall goal of the year, putting the Warhawks on top, 1-0.

USA answered in the 84th minute as Singarella sent a ball past ULM goalkeeper Alexa Castro off an assist from Kate Nicolson to level the match at 1.

Eve Blakey had three shots, putting two on goal, to lead ULM. Singarella's three shots and one on goal paced USA.

ULM goalkeeper Mickaela Leal played a scoreless first half with one save. Castro played the final 45 minutes in net. USA's Jaidy Gutierrez Campos played all 90 minutes in goal with two saves.

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

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.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT -
ULM ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference and 31st in NCAA Division I in shots on goal per game with 7.92 shots on goal per game. The Warhawks trail only South Alabama in the SBC rankings. The Jaguars average 8.83 shots on goal per game.

STOPKA APPROACHES TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN - 
Junior Janet Stopka has tallied four goals in 12 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 has 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 has 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).

She has started three of the last four matches as she continues to work her way back from a knee injury.

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.

KONST CONTINUES TO MAKE MARK, MOVE UP RECORD LISTS - 
Junior Inge Konst has piled up 16 points over the first 12 contests of the 2023 season, moving her up on the career points, career goals, career assists, career penalty kicks made and career shots lists.

The native of Balk, Netherlands, extended her lead as ULM's all-time leader in penalty kicks made with a goal in the 60th minute against South Alabama last Sunday. It was her fifth converted penalty of the season, extending the program's new single season record. It was the eighth converted penalty of her career. In addition, it was her 17th career goal, which moved her into a tie for fourth on ULM's career goals list. She now has 46 career points, which moves her into third on the career points list, passing Chelsea Shriner (2000-02, 45 points) and moving her two points ahead of teammate Janet Stopka (44 points).

She scored on a penalty in the first minute of the match at Grambling on Sept. 14. 

After notching an assist on Skylar Blaise's goal on Sept. 24 at the Ragin' Cajuns, Konst is tied for sixth on the career assists list with 12.

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 now moved into ninth on the career shots list with 114 shots, seven behind teammate Mara Grutkamp for eighth place.

GRUTKAMP ASSISTING WARHAWKS TO SUCCESS - 
Junior Mara Grutkamp continues to move up the career record book, sitting in a tie for third-most career assists in ULM history at 13 (Theoni Zerva, 2020/21-21, and Chelsea Shriner, 2000-02). 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.

Grutkamp will tie for second on the career assists list with her next assist (Kelley O'Dwyer, 2012-15) However, Grutkamp is just over halfway to tying the ULM career assists record, held by Karlea Fehr (2012-15) with 24.

Grutkamp ranks eighth in career shots with 121. Her goal on Aug. 31 against Texas A&M-Commerce gave Grutkamp her first goal of the season and 11th of her career, putting her two goals away from cracking the career Top-10 list. She also sits just outside the Top 10 in career points (35) and game-winning goals (3).

LOBATO MAKING MOST OF FINAL SEASON -
One of just three seniors on ULM's 2023 roster, Lucia Lobato has had a quick start to the season. 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. Out of her four shots, three have been on goal.

In her three seasons at ULM, Lobato has four goals with five assists for 13 points, while firing 31 shots and putting 17 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 fifth career point with 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 seven times in her first collegiate season, and has started all nine matches.

LEAL, CASTRO BATTLING FOR GOALKEEPER POSITION - 
Junior Mickaela Leal and senior Alexa Castro have split time in net evenly through the first 11 matches of the season. Leal has typically played the first half and Castro the second half for the Warhawks.

Leal is ULM's all-time career leader in goals against average at 1.13. She is fifth with five career shutouts and third with 15 career wins. She entered the program's Top 10 list for career saves this season with 87. Castro has not allowed a goal in nine of her 11 appearances in 2023, posting 17 saves.

CLEAT-MELTING HEAT - 
Despite moving up the Aug. 20 match at Sam Houston two hours to try and avoid the peak of the hot temperatures, ULM still experienced literal cleat-melting heat in the 3-1 victory. Head Coach Will Roberts said some players needed to change cleats during the match due to them starting to melt on the hot artificial playing surface. According to the National Weather Service, the air temperature at first touch at 11 a.m. was 98 degrees. By the end of the match near 1 p.m., the air temperature had jumped to 106 degrees with a heat index of 112 degrees.

RECORD BREAKERS - 
Since Will Roberts arrived as an assistant coach ahead of the 2020-21 season, ULM has put 29 entries in the team single-game Top 10 marks and 12 entries in the single-season Top 5 records lists, including the most points in a single season (146, 53 goals, 40 assists, 2021), goals (53, 2021), shots (383, 2021) and goals against average (1.04, 2021).

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 gets another midweek off next week before returning to action at 12 p.m. Oct. 15 at Arkansas State.