MONROE, La. – ULM scored three unanswered goals to erase an early 1-0 deficit and cruised to a 3-1 win over Texas A&M-Commerce in the 2023 home opener Thursday night at Brown Stadium.
Texas A&M-Commerce (1-3-1 overall) scored on its first chance of the night, as Hannah Bell found the back of the net to give the Lions the 1-0 advantage in the fifth minute.
The Lions had a couple other early chances, as Sloane Denning's shot in the eighth minute was stopped by ULM goalkeeper
Mickaela Leal, and Camila Montero's attempt in the 11th minute also was stopped by Leal.
ULM (2-0-2 overall) knocked on the door a pair of times before breaking through.
Sara Navarro and
Libby Holmes each had shots stopped by Lion goalkeeper Sophia Dean.
Vanessa Praher scored the equalizer in the 27th minute off an assist from
Janet Stopka to level the match at 1. It was Praher's first career goal and points.
The Warhawks took the lead in the 34th minute. After having a shot denied in the 30th minute,
Mara Grutkamp came back four minutes later and scored off assists by Praher and
Sophia Youngman for the 2-1 advantage, which held to halftime. It was Grutkamp's first goal of the season and 11th of her career.
ULM opened the second half aggressively. The Warhawks opened with possession and immediately went into attack mode, as
Eve Blakey scored 18 seconds into the half off assists by
Skylar Blaise and
Ally Richardson for the 3-1 lead. For Blakey, it was her first goal of the season, while Blaise and Richardson each earned their first career points on the play.
For the fourth consecutive match, ULM switched goalkeepers in the second half, as
Alexa Castro held off both Texas A&M-Commerce scoring attempts in the half. Leal had two saves in the first half for the Warhawks. ULM had four more shots on goal in the half stopped by Dean, as the 3-1 score held for the remainder of the match.
ULM piled up 19 shots, putting 10 on goal, while the Lions had 11 shots, putting five on frame.
Inge Konst put all four of her shots on goal to lead ULM, while Mindy Shoffit had three shots, with one on goal, to lead Texas A&M-Commerce.
The Warhawks return to action at 1 p.m. Sunday at Jackson State.
