Soccer | 10/12/2019 6:41:00 PM

Box Score By Texas Woman's Athletics Communications

DENTON, Texas (Oct, 12, 2019) – Two second-half goals lifted Texas Woman's past Eastern New Mexico, 3-1, Saturday afternoon to run the Pioneers' home undefeated streak to six.

TWU (9-2, 5-1-0 Lone Star) got on the board first on a play that began with junior Jazmine Navarro stripping the ball from an Eastern player 30 yards out.  She turned and took her space before feeding sophomore Kaylee Rekieta on the right wing.  Rekeita took a couple strides and then launched a shot across the goal and into the left side for her second goal of the season to put TWU up, 1-0, at 34:10.

"Going into the game we really talked about our defensive pressure and how we really wanted to win the ball in our attaching third," Head Coach Babak Abouzar said.  "Kaylee did a great job of forcing a pass into Jaz's player, and Jaz did a great job of tackling, taking her space and feeding a great ball for Kaylee to finish."

The Pioneers built on this momentum, maintaining possession for most of the first half, and looked to be headed to halftime with a lead.  But with 33 seconds remaining,  ENMU's Taylor Fogle lofted a high ball from 25 yards out that goalkeeper Daniela Marin misplayed with the ball bouncing into the back of the net to tie the game at one. 

TWU wasted no time scoring when the second half began.  Pressuring the Greyhound defense, sophomore Abigail Martinez had the ball at the top of the box and found junior Hannah Schneider open on the left wing.  Schneider's left-footed shot went into the back of the net at 49:34 to give the Pioneers a 2-1 advantage.

"Our level of play was not where it needed to be consistently in the first half," Abouzar said. "We talked about the adjustments that needed to be made and our team did a really good job of executing them right away which showed with that early goal in the second half."

With the clock winding down, ENMU (1-4, 4-4-1 LSC) was called for a foul in the box as Makenzie Mendez tripped Navarro to set up a penalty kick with 59 seconds remaining. Martinez slotted a shot on the ground into the far right corner for her fourth goal of the season, securing a 3-1 win.

"The resiliency of our team showed in today's game," Abouzar said.  "We gave up a late goal in the first half and we could have easily put our heads down and been deflated.  But our team talked amongst themselves at halftime and came out with the necessary changes to win this crucial conference game and keep us undefeated at Pioneer Soccer Park."

The Pioneers outshot the Greyhounds, 20-7, with 12 taken in the second half.  Freshman Jaycee Fuller had a game-high seven shots followed by six from Schneider.

TWU goes on an East Texas swing for their next two matches as they travel to Texas A&M-Commerce on Oct. 17 and UT-Tyler on Oct. 19.