ELON, N.C. - A trio of early goals and a stingy defensive effort by the Elon University women's soccer team paved the way for a 3-0 victory over the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on Thursday night at Rudd Field.

Elon netted three goals in the first 20 minutes of the contest and never looked back, improving to 4-1 on the year and dropping the Bulldogs to 0-4.

"We got off to a good start, but unfortunately lost our rhythm after making several substitutions," said Elon head coach Chris Neal. "We lost a little bit of our edge in the second half, but we were able to pick up the shutout for the second time this season and managed to build momentum going into this weekend."

The Phoenix got on the scoreboard early and often versus the Bulldogs, as freshman Chelsey Stark gave Elon a 1-0 edge in the 13th minute after taking an Asheville defender deep and netting the goal, her second of the season, from 15 yards out. Elon went into the half with a 3-0 advantage, as goals by senior Brittany Hallberg from Stark in the 15th minute and sophomore Scarlett Fakhar on a header off an Olivia Mackey corner in the 20th minute gave Elon the cushion at intermission. Hallberg, the reigning Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week, leads the team with three goals on the season.

Elon limited Asheville to just a pair of shots in the opening frame, while the Phoenix took eight shots, seven of which were on goal.

Despite going scoreless in the second half, the Phoenix still managed to maintain control of the match, not allowing the Bulldogs past midfield for most of the contest and limiting the opposition to four shots in the frame.

The shutout marks Elon's second of the season, as sophomore Kristen Haney picked up the victory in the net, playing 71 minutes and tallying a pair of saves.

Elon is back in action on Sunday, Sept. 12, when the Liberty Flames invade Rudd Field for a 5 p.m. match-up.