Challenges are meant to be overcome.

Grand Canyon University Women's Club Soccer sent GCU Purple to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they beat University of New Mexico, 4-1. On the heels of their first-place finish in the San Diego Cup last weekend, the Lopes added to their momentum with the win, but it did not come without complications.

"It was definitely a challenging game with the travel and quick turnaround time," said Lopes' Head Coach Hannah Bolton. "Even the higher altitude seemed to be a bit of a factor. We are a team that likes to play very technical soccer, so we struggled at times installing our game in these different conditions."

Despite the switch up of surroundings, the Lopes secured a 3-0 lead by halftime. Among those goals was a PK finish from Lopes' sophomore Preslee Rodriguez.

"We have a lot of players this year who able to really push through adversity," said Bolton. "They can grind it out and know that things might not always look pretty. We have a really athletic team in that sense."

The Lobos spoiled the Lopes' shutout in the second half, but never threatened to tie.

While the road trip win adds to the Lopes' stride, Bolton has already switched her focus to the next challenge.

"We have a tough opponent coming up with University of Arizona this weekend," said Bolton. "We need to stay focused. We have had a lot of success early on, so it would be easy to get complacent. I am excited to see how they respond to a challenging team like U of A."

The Lopes are back on GCU's campus for their match against University of Arizona on October 10 at Prescott Field.  Kickoff is scheduled for noon.