By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's soccer team entered Monday's nonconference showdown against UW-Superior in dire need of an offensive pick-me-up — having managed just seven goals in its last six games.
 
And the Yellowjackets proved to be just the prescription the ailing Cardinal offense needed.
 
Saint Mary's erupted for five goals in the first half — including two from Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Minn.) — and never took its foot off the gas in rolling to an 8-0 victory at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.) got the Cardinal offense jump-started, scoring her third of the season just six minutes into the opening half.
 
Matthews took over from there, scoring back-to-back goals — her team- and conference-leading 11th and 12th of the season — to push the Cardinal lead to 3-0 before the half was even 23 minutes old.
 
And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up.
 
Claire Fletcher (Woodbury, Minn.) and Avery Sutton (Minneapolis, Minn.) netted their first collegiate goals six minutes apart late in the first half to give Saint Mary's a 5-0 cushion, and Natalie Ruegsegger (Billings, Mont.), Haylee Queen (Spokane, Wash.), and Abbi Mazurek (Darien, Ill.) all netted second-half tallies — Queen's and Mazurek's their first in a Cardinal uniform — to round out the scoring.
 
Saint Mary's dominated from start-to-finish, outshooting the Yellowjackets 32-1 — including 20-1 in shots on goal. Gabriella Pederson (Chaska, Minn.) stopped the lone UW-Superior second-half shot in recording her fifth shutout of the season, while UW-Superior goalkeepers Morgan Philliber and Madison Gutekunst each made six saves.
 
The Cardinals (6-5-0 overall) are now off until Saturday, when they are back on the turf at Ochrymowycz Field for a 3:30 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Bethel. The Yellowjackets (2-7-2 overall) are right back in action on Wednesday, returning home to the NBC Spartan Sports Complex in Superior, Wis., for a 3:30 UMAC showdown against North Central.