By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — It took the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team a bit to get its offense warmed up Wednesday evening.
 
Forty-five minutes, to be exact.
 
The Cardinals found themselves clinging to a 1-0 lead after the first half of their nonconference finale against Martin Luther.
 
Then came the game's second 45-minute half — and what a half it proved to be.
 
The Cardinals erupted for six second-half goals — including two from Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wash.) and collegiate firsts from Sean Flandrick (New Richmond, Wis.), Wally Barros (Santa Maria da Boa Vista, Brazil), and Zack Bracken (Osseo, Minn.) — en route to a 7-0 rout of the Knights at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
Saint Mary's dominated from start-to-finish, outshooting the Knights 45-0 — including a 16-0 advantage in shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals put 12 shots on the Martin Luther net in the first half — but had only an Eli Szymanski (La Crosse, Wis.) penalty kick goal in the 27th minute to show for their efforts.
 
Saint Mary's proved to be much more opportunistic in the second half, scoring on six of their 11 shots on goal.
 
Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wash.) got the scoring parade started whit his ninth of the season just 1:03 into the second half. Johnluke Nahorski (Minnetonka, Minn.) made it 3-0 five minutes later, and Balsiger added his second of the night in the 60th minute to push the advantage to 4-0.
 
And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up, as Flandrick, Barros, and Bracken also found the back of the net in the second half, accounting for the Cardinals' final three goals — all collegiate firsts — to round out the scoring.
 
The Cardinals (7-8-0 overall) return to conference play on Saturday, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC matchup against Hamline. The Knights (5-10-2 overall) hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Ashland, Wis., for a 3:30 p.m. UMAC contest against Northland.