NEW LONDON, N.H. - With the No. 1 seed in the upcoming North Atlantic Conference Tournament on the line, the Spartans put to bed any doubts that they will be the prohibitive favorite, silencing second-place Colby-Sawyer 6-0 on Wednesday afternoon.

Junior Hilary Cooke (Marlborough, Conn.) scored a career-high four goals and added an assist as Castleton played one its most complete games of the season to finish the NAC regular season unbeaten for the third straight season. The win also extended the team's NAC regular season unbeaten streak to 25 games overall (24-0-1).

The Spartans were in control from the onset, peppering Chargers keeper Shalyn Spencer (Natick, Mass.) with six shots before the host squad could even attempt one. Cooke finally broke through for the visitors in the 36th minute as she put home a pass from Sarah Ethier (Portsmouth, R.I.).

21 seconds later, it was Cooke again as she beat Spencer for her 14th goal of the year and a 2-0 advantage. Castleton wouldn't score again in the half, but in the second the senior wasted little time in getting her hat trick. Cooke deposited a Courtney Chadburn (No. Clarendon, Vt.) pass at the 48:06 mark for the three-goal lead.

In the 57th minute, senior keeper Ericka Davis (Cambridge, Vt.) punted the ball past the 50 and it took Spartan bounce over the defense. Chadburn ran down the ball and beat Spencer for the 4-0 lead.

Cooke thought she had her fourth goal of the game in the 75th minute, but her shot was deflected by the Chargers keeper. Luckily for Castleton, the ball went directly to Kelly Gerken (Scottsville, N.Y.), who calmly put the ball into an open net.

Less than two minutes later, Cooke did find the back of the net for her fourth tally. After a Colby-Sawyer defensive miscue, Cooke did enough to gather the ball and find the back of the net for the 6-0 lead.

Davis had played tough in net, denying a pair of breakaways and finishing with four saves. The assist was also the first of her career. In her last four starts, all Castleton wins, she has allowed just one goal while making 14 saves. Spencer, meanwhile, made nine saves in the net for the Chargers.

The win assured the Spartans they wouldn't have to leave Spartan Stadium in their search for the program's second straight NAC title and trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Castleton improves to 14-4 and 9-0 in the NAC while Colby-Sawyer drops to 7-1-1 in the conference and 11-6-1 overall.

The Spartans return to action when they host a NAC quarterfinal on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.