WINONA, Minn. — For the second game in a row, offense was the name of the game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, for the second game in a row, the majority of that offense came from their opponent.
 
After opening the season with five goals in a 5-5 tie with Lake Forest, the Cardinals' offense has been mired in an early-season deep-freeze, managing just seven goals in its last four games — including one goal in Friday's 8-1 loss to UW-Stevens Point.
 
And things didn't improve for the Cardinals against UW-Superior.
 
The Yellowjackets erupted for four second-period goals — including three on the power play — in dealing Saint Mary's a 6-1 nonconference setback Saturday evening.
 
UW-Superior drew first blood with less than nine minutes remaining in the opening period, as Austin Paul rifled a shot that zipped past Cardinal goalie Connor Close (Des Moines, Iowa) for  a 1-0 Yellowjacket lead.
 
The Yellowjackets' lead quickly ballooned to three early in the second period — thanks to back-to-back Cardinal penalties that awarded them a two-minute, 5-on-3 power play. UW-Superior made the most of the two-man advantage, scoring twice — the first by Zach Bannister at 7:55 and the second by Reed Stark 39 seconds later — to push the lead to 3-0.
 
And the Yellowjackets weren't satisfied with a three-goal lead heading into the second-period intermission, tacking on two more goals in a 38-second span late in the frame — one on the power play and the second shorthanded — to extend their lead to 5-0.
 
The Cardinals finally broke through two minutes into the third period on Jack Campion's second goal of the season — off assists from Nikita Sheberov (Obninsk, Russia) and Laudon Poellinger (La Crescent, Minn.) — only to have UW-Superior net its fourth power-play goal of the game 10 minutes later to round out the scoring.
 
The Cardinals (1-3-1 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend with a pair of games against Augsburg. SMU will head to Augsburg's Ed Saugestad Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 7 p.m. matchup on Friday, with the two teams returning to the SMU Ice Arena for a 7:05 p.m. rematch the following evening.
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