DENTON, Texas – The Eastern New Mexico women's soccer program suffered a tough loss on a rainy Friday afternoon as Texas Woman's defeated the Hounds 3-0 in Lone Star Conference play.
Due to rainy conditions affecting the playing surface, the time was moved up from 4 p.m. to 3 p.m. and the venue was moved to Guyer High School.
The Pioneers (8-5-2, 5-2-2 LSC) scored their first goal in the 16
th minute on a header by Maddy Harper off a Jazmine Navarro corner kick, giving TWU the early advantage.
Three minutes later, Texas Woman's added to their lead. After sophomore defender
Hayden Zuniga was issued a yellow card on a foul inside the box, TWU's leading goal scorer Haley Ward slipped her penalty shot just out of the reach of freshman goalkeeper
Taylor Jackson to make it 2-0 and would hold that lead going into the halftime break.
The Hounds offense struggled to find a rhythm in the first half, as they were outshot 6-0 and Pioneers two shots on-goal found the back of the net.
Texas Woman's added some insurance in the second half as Hannah Schneider was able to beat the Jackson on a contested ball off a long pass and scored an open goal at the 79:27 mark to stretch the Pioneers advantage to 3-nil.
Eastern's offense found a little bit of rhythm in the second half, as they took five shots, placing three on-goal. However, they were unable to score as the Pioneers held on to the 3-0 win.
Sophomore midfielder Victoria Nuñez led the offensive efforts for the Greyhounds, taking two shots and placing one on-goal while Jackson took the loss in net, playing all 90 minutes and managed two saves while allowing three goals.
The Hounds will look to bounce back on Sunday as they will travel to Commerce, Texas to take on Texas A&M-Commerce. The match is slated for an 11 a.m. start and it will be a vital game as both teams are currently contesting for a first round home game in the LSC Tournament.
