LAS VEGAS, N.M. – MSU Denver scored midway through the first half and then added two late insurance goals for a 3-0 victory at New Mexico Highlands on Friday in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's soccer.
 
Paloma Teran scored impressively at 24:28, finding the ball on her lethal left foot at the edge of the goal box even with the left post and then unleashing a shot to the lower right corner for her second goal of the season and the 11^th of her career.
 
Luna Garcia scored on a penalty kick at 78:50 after she was taken down in the box, and Katy Coats followed up at 81:38 for the final margin.
 
"Early on we had a couple of opportunities to put a goal away, which would've settled the game down more," MSU Denver coach Kat Mertz said. "But give New Mexico Highlands credit. They put us under a lot of pressure, and it's really hard to beat a team that's chasing its first win. They came out with a lot of firepower, and we had to match that and match their physicality.
 
"They also had an offside trap, which was a different tactic, and we had to keep our composure against it."
 
Garcia's goal was her third of the season, while Coats' goal was her second of the season and sixth of her career.
 
Unofficially MSU Denver had 19 shots, with nine on goal, though the official stats reflected fewer (seven shots, all on goal).  Highlands wasn't credited with a shot on goal, though Kylie Bach certainly appeared to have at least one save in her shutout while improving to 4-0-3.
 
While Highlands dropped to 0-10 overall and 0-6 in the RMAC, MSU Denver improved to 7-2-4 overall and 3-1-3 in league play, good (at least temporarily) for sole possession of fourth place before Fort Lewis and Western Colorado played league games later Friday.
 
The Roadrunners play Sunday at 1 p.m. against Adams State, which defeated Black Hills State 2-0 Friday to improve to 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the RMAC.
 
"Adams is a good team and has played good soccer," Mertz said. "They'll give us some different tactics that we'll have to solve. But the focus is really on ourselves, making sure we pay attention and finish all the little details. At the end of the day, it's about outworking the opponent and finding a way to grind out a result."