WINONA, Minn. — Mother Nature may have been able to beat the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's soccer team, but UW-River Falls couldn't.
 
The Cardinals, who weren't able to get their regularly-scheduled season-opener in against UW-River Falls on Friday due to torrential rain, took to the field against the Falcons on Sunday.
 
And thanks to freshman Emily Loof (Colorado Springs, Colo.), the Cardinals came away from Ochrymowycz Field with a well-earned 2-1, double-overtime victory.
 
"We played with lot of energy," said SMU assistant coach Jeff Halberg, filling in for head coach Neil Cassidy, who was called away due to a family emergency. "We had a lot of people who played and contributed, and we kept the tempo high throughout.
 
"The ladies did their job and earned this win."
 
UW-River Falls got on the board first, scoring midway through the first half, and took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
 
Loof pulled the Cardinals even with her first collegiate goal midway through the second half, and thanks to a huge save from Saint Mary's goalkeeper Miranda Halling (Rochester, Minn.) after Loof's first goal, the score remained deadlocked after regulation.
 
After a scoreless first OT, Loof gave the Cardinals their first win of the season, taking a feed from Caroline Blackwood (Norwalk, Ohio) and rifling a shot from 30 yards out that beat the UW-River Falls goalkeeper and found the back of the net midway through the second overtime.
 
The Cardinals (1-0 overall) are right back on their home turf on Wednesday, hosting UW-Stout in a 7 p.m. nonconference game.