Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm’s Yanellie Fernandez (12) chases after a ball with Mankato West’s Olivia Downs (10) while New Ulm goalkeeper Greta Berger makes the save during the Section 2AA girls soccer semifinals at the Caswell North Soccer Complex on Thursday.

NORTH MANKATO — New Ulm had four shots on goal, none in the first half, to Mankato West’s 23 as the Scarlets defeated the Eagles 7-0 in the semifinals of the Section 2AA Girls Soccer Tournament on Thursday.

West scored three goals in the first 11 minutes of the game, putting New Ulm into chase mode early.

“They’ve got good coaching, that’s for one thing,” New Ulm head coach Jonathan Johnson said. “They toe the line really well with what they’re doing, really good focus out on the field on their part. I think they intimidated us.”

New Ulm keeper Greta Berger had 16 saves.

West scored its first goal in the fourth minute, a cross from Olivia Downs to Molly Miller, followed up in the ninth minute with a cross from Sydney Shain to Kambrie Konz. Downs got a goal on an assist by Miller in the 11th minute to make it a 3-0 game, then collected a rebound from a shot by Miller in the 29th minute to make it a 4-0 game by half.

An assist from Downs to Shain opened the second half with another goal for West in the 46th minute, then Downs earned a hat trick in the 63rd minute on a third assist from Miller. Haley Hagen wrapped up the scoring on an assist by Whitley Kolars in the 78th minute to extend the lead to 7-0.

Johnson said that his team will miss its five seniors — Kaelyn Eikanger, Addison Haynes, Julia Deweitt, Yanellie Fernandez and Olivia Enter — next season, but they have some young talent that is ready to step up.

“We’re losing a lot of power this year,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of power that’s leaving us, a lot of speed. They have some big shoes to fill next year, but we do have youngsters coming up that are going to step into those shoes pretty admirably I think.”