In a battle of undefeated teams vying for the top spot in the Mountain West's Mountain Division, New Mexico defeated Colorado College, 5-0, Friday night at the Lobo Soccer Complex.
 
Alesia Garcia scored four goals and Emily Johnson stopped all four Colorado College shots to help the Lobos remain in first place.
 
Garcia struck early by converting a penalty kick after getting fouled by CC's Alexa Porter in the box just 1:48 into the contest.
 
Gwen Maly made it 2-0 for New Mexico with 11:12 remaining in the first half. Madi Hirschman took a pass on the right side of the box, then found Maly, who beat CC goalkeeper Ally Wakeman from directly in front of the net.
 
The Tigers held a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks, and trailed just 11-9 in total shots attempted. Kiley Suter had the Tigers' best chance with a shot from 12 yards about nine minutes into second half.
 
Midway through the second half, Wakeman made an incredible save against Garcia to keep the deficit at two, but Garcia scored her second of the game a few minutes later with a header at the back post to give the Lobos a 3-0 lead.
 
Garcia completed her hat trick with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game as she headed the ball along the goal line past Wakeman following a corner kick, then scored her fourth of the contest with just over three minutes left on the clock.
 
"I don't feel like it was a 5-0 game," head coach Geoff Bennett said. "They barely led in shots and we led in corners. The contest was statistically even, as was the flow. They finished their chances and we were not up to par in that department today. We need to move on."
 
Colorado College Standouts
Toni Tsomasfyros led the Tigers with two shots on goal.
 
New Mexico Standouts
Alesia Garcia led all players with five shots on goal.
Emily Johnson helped UNM to its third clean sheet of the season.
 
Notes
Colorado College fell to 2-1.
New Mexico improved to 4-0.
 
Next for the Tigers
Colorado College continues its four-match road swing against Utah State University in Logan, Utah, on Sunday, March 21, at 9 a.m.