LANSING, Mich. -- In her home state and with her family in the crowd, Alexis Sponable has broken the Maranatha Women's Soccer all-time scoring record.

With her 53rd and 54th career goals, Sponable joined Amy Montgomery (two goals) and Kseniya Hassenplug on the scoresheet to give Maranatha a 5-1 win over Great Lakes. 

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 5-1 Great Lakes
• Venue: Great Lakes Christian College
• Location: Lansing, Mich.
• Attendance: 119
• Record: MBU (3-3-0), GLCC (0-2-0)

STORY

Sponable wasted no time in tying the record. After Montgomery sent a perfectly weighted through ball deep into Great Lakes territory, Sponable took a touch inside the box and slotted her finish into the bottom-right corner to give the Sabercats the 1-0 edge.

Just eight minutes later, Sponable made history.

The big moment came when Sponable pounced on a misplayed pass from the Crusaders. Sponable seized her opportunity when she dribbled into the Great Lakes box, touched it around the oncoming goalkeeper, and slotted it into the empty net for her 54th career goal. Record: broken.

The team stayed focused from then on, adding one more goal before halftime. After Angel Steuerwald crossed it into the box, the ball broke free to Montgomery, who played the poacher's role by inserting an easy finish into the net off of a rebound. 

The second half was a matter of just seeing the game out. Montgomery flew solo for the fourth goal, more or less copying what she did against Faith a couple of weeks ago. After dribbling down the right side of the GLCC defense, Montgomery launched a left-footed shot into the far corner for the four-goal cushion. 

For the icing on the cake, Sponable set up Hassenplug for the fifth - Sponable's low pass behind the Crusader defenders set up Hassenplug perfectly, and she made no mistake, smacking her left-footed shot into the roof of the net for the fifth.

The Crusaders scored one goal late on, but it was only a consolation goal. The Sabercats had the momentum, Sponable had the record, and MBU had a 5-1 win after a solid 90 minutes.

MBU Starters: 0- Wright, 6- Montgomery, 7- Evans (C), 11- Torres, 13- Bagin (C), 14- Sponable (C), 15- Massey, 16-Vander Pluym, 17- Moses, 19- Steuerwald, 20- Hassenplug

SOUND BITE

When asked about breaking the record and the win, Sponable had this to say. "This season, I knew if I got too focused on breaking the record, I wouldn't be the team player I need to be," Sponable said. "So I was just focusing on being a good team player and doing what I've been asked to do. [Breaking the record] was special, especially with my family there."

"I think our mindset today as a team was just to stick to our game plan," Sponable continued. "We came out with intensity and stuck to the plan, and that helped us get the win - we scored early and that helped us get into the game."

SCORERS

Sponable now sits atop of an impressive list of prolific goal-scorers from Maranatha:

STATS

• Shot count: Maranatha 29-16 Great Lakes
• Sponable: 2 goals, 54 career goals
• Montgomery: 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 shots on goal
• Hassenplug: 1 goal
• Trisha Wright: 6 saves in the win
• Makayla Willette: 5 shots on goal
• Series: This was the first matchup in the series

OPPONENTS

• Great Lakes is participating in their first-ever season
• Great Lakes competes in the NCCAA DII Mideast Region
• Great Lakes opened the season with a 5-1 loss to Rochester (Ind. - NAIA)

NEXT

The Sabercats will take on Grace Christian University tomorrow at 12 p.m. Eastern. Find gameday details at mbusabercats.com/schedule.