LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- Alexis Sponable and Amy Montgomery both scored twice today as the Sabercats topped Blackburn College for their third shutout win of the season.

Taylor Moses scored her first collegiate goal as the Sabercats ended a 2-1 week on a high note.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 5-0 Blackburn
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 65
• Records: MBU (3-2-0), BC (2-4-0)

STORY

After scoring a hat-trick against Blackburn last year, Sponable was in the mood to score. It took her just seven minutes, as her first goal of the day came from a calm and collected penalty kick.

Ten minutes later, Sponable was on the scoresheet again. This time, Moses whipped in a corner kick that was saved off the goal line by a Blackburn defender. Sponable was at the ready, knocking in a left-footed shot from close range to earn her second goal of the game.

The score remained 2-0 until shortly after halftime when the Sabercats replicated the same goal in a span of two minutes. Sponable found space near the Blackburn box before sending a wide pass to Montgomery. The sophomore captain then hit both of her shots over the goalkeeper and into the far corner, giving the Beavers the unwelcome feeling of déjà vu.

The goal-fest was capped off in the 69th minute when Moses followed up her first collegiate assist with her first collegiate goal. Gabrielle Torres found Moses near the top of the Beavers' penalty area, and Moses cut to her left before firing a left-footed shot into the corner of the Blackburn goal. 

Trisha Wright had five saves in her third shutout win this season, as the Sabercats go into next week with the momentum of consecutive clean-sheet wins.

MBU Starters: 0- Wright, 6- Montgomery (C), 7- Evans, 8-Nelson, 9- Ng, 10- Riley, 13- Bagin, 14- Sponable, 15- Hendrickson, 17- Moses, 19- Steuerwald

STATS

• Shot count: Maranatha 27-11 Blackburn
• Sponable, Montgomery: 6 shots each
• Sponable: 2 goals, 2 assists
• Moses: First career goal and assist 
• Last year: Maranatha won 3-1 at Blackburn
• Series: Maranatha now leads the series 2-0-0

OPPONENTS

• The Beavers compete in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NCAA DIII)
• Blackburn posted shutout wins over Lincoln Christian and Rockford this season
• The Beavers will have two more non-conference games before beginning SLIAC conference play

NEXT

The Sabercats will host Grace Christian next Friday at 3:30 p.m. Watch live at mbusabercats.com/schedule.