For nearly half the game, St. Thomas, a first-year Division I women's hockey program, kept it close with the fifth-ranked Gophers.
Then Minnesota (16-5-1, 11-4-1 WCHA) asserted itself. Abigail Boreen had a hat trick as the Gophers routed the Tommies 8-2 on Sunday at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
Boreen had two goals in the opening period and then, when Luci Bianchi scored for St. Thomas in the third minute of the second period, the Gophers' lead shrunk to 2-1.
Peyton Hemp's power-play goal at 7:59 of the middle period proved to be the winner and was the first of four goals for Minnesota in the second. Amy Potomak, Taylor Heise and Emily Zumwinkle had the others.
Boreen completed her hat trick with a power-play goal at 1:37 of the third and teammate Catie Skaja added another goal with a man-advantage midway through the period. Lauren Stenslie scored for St. Thomas between those goals.
Lauren Bench made 11 saves for the win; Alexa Dobchuk stopped 24 shots for the Tommies (4-15-1, 2-13-1).
Minnesota is in third place in the WCHA, four points behind co-leaders Wisconsin and Ohio State.
