TXST Soccer Defeats ULM 4-1

Jordan Salas

Sports Reporter

The afternoon heat did not stop Texas State soccer from putting on a show at home and adding to their impressive record (8-1-2, 2-0-1 Sun Belt) with a win against the talented ULM Warhawks (9-2-1, 1-2-0 Sun Belt) on Sunday afternoon.

Texas State Head Coach Steve Holeman said his team knew that they would have to keep the ball because it would be an important key to winning the game. Holeman was also pleased with how his team played, especially when it came to set pieces.

“We talked about how good Louisiana-Monroe was in possession,” Holeman said. “We wanted to be able to keep the ball, we knew it would be important, so I think we did a really good job at spreading the field, creating good chances and of course we were really good on set pieces.”

The Bobcats came out firing with a shot on goal by Kiara Gonzales in the second minute, which almost got through for a point but instead went out off a ULM player. A corner kick was the result of that play, and Texas State answered with a set piece that resulted in a goal scored by Sophomore Madi Goss off an assist from Senior Juana Plata.

In the 17th minute, Junior Wimberley Wright added to the Bobcat’s lead with a goal scored off Texas State’s third corner kick of the game up to that point. This gave the Bobcats a comfortable lead over the Warhawks early in the game.

At halftime, Texas State would lead ULM 2-0. The Bobcats had nine shot attempts, two saves, and six corner kicks in the first 45 minutes compared to four shots, three saves, and zero corner kicks for the Warhawks.
The second half of the match started, and it was apparent that Texas State was planning on doing what they had done in the first half, which was come out attacking to try and get a goal early.

In the 53rd minute, Gonzales attempted 2 shots before getting her third to the back of the net, which added a goal for her team early in the second half. Less than two minutes later, in the 55th minute, Junior Haley Shaw assisted Goss for yet another goal for Texas State.

Coach Holeman talked about how it is better to be able to play from ahead by scoring early, rather than trying to play catch up.

“It’s always nice to play when you’re in the lead, it’s a little tougher to play from behind,” Holeman said. “The good thing is, when we got the goal, we turned around and we got another one. We never let our foot off the gas.”

After a couple fouls from both teams, and shot attempts from ULM, Konst Inge scored the first goal for the Warhawks in the 62nd minute to make the score 4-1 in favor of Texas State.ULM got three more shot attempts, but they were not able to score, and the Texas State Bobcats ended the afternoon with a win, putting them in a great position in conference play.

You can catch the next Texas State Soccer match on Saturday, October 1 at noon, at the Bobcat Soccer Complex where they will play against Southern Miss.