DENTON, Texas – A steady rainfall didn't seem to slow down Texas Woman's Friday afternoon as the Pioneers got their third win in a row with a 3-0 shutout over Eastern New Mexico in a game that was moved to the artificial turf field at John Guyer High School's Wildcat Stadium.

The pace started off sluggish in the first half as both teams adjusted to the weather, but TWU (8-5-2, 5-2-2 LSC) quickly built momentum and kept ENMU (6-6-2, 4-4-1 LSC) on defense for most of the period, taking six shots and forcing four corner kicks.

"We just wanted to come out strong, we knew it was going to be tough going up against the elements but we knew it was something both teams were going to have to deal with, so I think that the mentality for the team was just great," TWU head coach Babak Abouzar said. "It started in the warm-up. They didn't let the weather get to them, so that was good to see."

The Pioneers got their first goal at 15:26 when sophomore Jazmine Navarro sent in a perfectly lofted corner kick that found freshman Maddy Harper, who knocked in a powerful header over the Greyhound's goalkeeper. It was her first goal of the season and put TWU up, 1-0.

"I think that we were just getting used to the turf, getting used to the weather," Abouzar said.  "We didn't start off the way that we would like but I think that Maddy's goal just settled things for us."

Three minutes later sophomore Haley Ward was fouled inside the penalty box.  Ward, the current Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week, tallied her team-leading ninth goal of the year when she converted the penalty kick at 18:25 to give TWU a 2-0 lead which they took into halftime.

The Pioneers got a little more familiar with their defensive third in the second half, allowing freshman Jazmine Maxwell, to make two saves before rallying their offense for another attack. Junior Hannah Schneider widened the Texas Woman's lead at a little more than ten minutes remaining in the game. Schneider took a pass from senior Lauren Bradford and collected her first goal of the season at 79:27 that held up for the 3-0 shutout.

"Hannah did a great job of just following the shot," Abouzar said. "We told them offensively and defensively on shots that they're just going to have to follow it because it's slick, and she did it and got rewarded for it."

The Pioneers took 11 shots, five on goal, while only allowing the Greyhounds to make five attempts. Ward added three more shots to her league-leading total, with Navarro and Schneider each taking two. Maxwell, the current LSC Goalkeeper of the Week, made three saves and earned her seventh shutout, one shy of the school record of eight set by Samantha Jimenez in 2016. 

"Our keeper came up with some great saves to keep it clean," Abouzar said. "I think that any time that you can score three goals and get a shutout it's just great."

The victory keeps TWU in third place in the LSC standings with 17 points.  They host conference leader West Texas A&M on Sunday at 1 p.m.