DENTON, Texas (Oct. 21, 2018) - Returning to the comfort of home turf at Pioneer Soccer Park, Texas Woman's took down #14 West Texas A&M, 2-0, Sunday in a barn-burner of a match that handed the nationally ranked team their first conference loss.

"They're first in the [Lone Star] conference and in the top fifteen in the nation for a reason, but I think that our players rose to the challenge," TWU head coach Babak Abouzar said.

Intensity was high in the first half of play as the Pioneers and Lady Buffs aggressively attempted to maintain control of the ball. The TWU defense prevented WT from taking the amount of shots they have been known for in this conference, dispossessing and blocking them at every opportunity. The Lady Buffs were not slouching on defense either, allowing on one shot on goal by senior Libby Murphy of the Pioneers' three attempts.

"What's even more impressive for me is, dating back to the last five games, we haven't let in a goal, and I just think that our collective team defense is just great," Abouzar said. "It takes us to where we need to rise."

The second half started with the Pioneers focused on the attack, keeping play in the Lady Buffs' defensive zone until sophomore Jazmine Navarro fed the ball to freshman Kaylee Rekieta in the right corner. Rekieta beat her defender and sent in a cross that landed at Murphy's feet, allowing her to score from inside the box for her first goal of the season, and putting TWU up 1-0 at 54:26.

"The first half was an evenly matched game but I told them at halftime that it's going to come down to whoever is going to make a play," Abouzar said.

Fouls and injuries continued to rack up in the second half as West Texas was desperate to equalize but was forced to play defensively. In the 76^thminute, junior Hannah Schneider recovered the ball and drove it downfield on the left side and then split the Lady Buff defense with a through ball to sophomore Haley Ward. Ward dribbled to the 18-yard line and rocketed a shot into the upper goal for her 10^thgoal of the season giving the Pioneers a 2-0 lead.
 
The Lady Buffs would spend the rest of the game putting pressure on the Pioneers, taking two more shots on goal and making freshman Jazmine Maxwell work on some huge saves including a one-on-one with WT's Khaline Jacob..

"It's all about the warm-up, having a good mentality," Maxwell said. "The other goalkeepers and my teammates are always pushing me to try to get better in practice and honestly that helps a lot."

TWU and WT were evenly matched in shots at seven, with Murphy leading the charge at three. Maxwell notched another five saves, while Rekiata and Schneider each added an assist. 

"It was a collective effort," Abouzar said. "Allie [Chapman] is dealing with an injury, Makenna [Guidry] came in and helped. Lauren Bradford, who hadn't been playing defense all season, played the first half for us."

TWU is currently on a four-game winning streak and a five-game unbeaten streak. The last time the Pioneers strung four straights victories together was the start of the 2016 season when they went 4-0.  
 
With today's clean sheet, Maxwell ties the school record with eight shutouts in a season, which is currently held by Samantha Jimenez from 2016.

"You have to give your credit to [Maxwell]," Abouzar said. "The saves that she's making, the composure she has, she crosses that she's getting big on, I think that's why we're at where we are now."

This victory brings Texas Woman's to second in LSC standings with 20 points. The Pioneers are in Commerce Wednesday at 7 p.m. to face the Lions in LSC competition.