SUPERIOR, Wis. — When it comes to scoring goals, it has taken the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's soccer team the game's opening 45 minutes to get warmed up.
 
In fact, since the start of the 2013 season, 10 of the Cardinals' 12 goals have come in the second half.
 
That all changed Saturday afternoon.
 
The Cardinals erupted for five first-half goals — including two each from Emma Schaefer (Falcon Heights, Minn.) and Emily Loof (Colorado Springs, Colo.) — and never looked back in handing UW-Superior a 7-0 nonconference setback.
 
Schaefer and Loof proved to be a two-person wrecking crew in the first half, as the Cardinals' dynamic duo accounted for Saint Mary's first four first-half goals.
 
Schaefer opened the scoring in the 10th minute, while Loof — who accounted for both of the Cardinals' goals in their 2-1 season-opening win over UW-River Falls — made it 2-0 15 minutes later.
 
The two would score nine minutes apart late in the half — Schaefer's in the 30th minute and Loof's in the 39th — and Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) would net her first collegiate goal with less than a minute remaining in the half to give the Cardinals a commanding 5-0 advantage heading into the break.
 
Schaefer would complete her first collegiate hat trick — and the first by a Cardinal since Amy Sibik netted four goals against Ripon on Sept. 4, 2010 — converting on a penalty kick six minutes into the second half, and Anna Taylor (St. Paul, Minn.) would net her first goal as a Cardinal in the 81st minute to round out the scoring.
 
Miranda Halling (Rochester, Minn.) needed to make just one save in earning her first collegiate shutout, while UW-Superior goalkeeper Bailey Henderson stopped 10 of the 17 Saint Mary's shots she faced.
 
The Cardinals (2-1 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Decorah, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against Luther.