MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. (Interstat) — Whitney Horton scored twice, Cara Sajevic added one goal and two assists and St. Thomas defeated New Hampshire 7-2 on Friday in a women’s NCAA Division I hockey game at St. Thomas Ice Arena. The Tommies improved to 1-0, while the Wildcats fell to 0-1. St. Thomas led after each period and broke the game open with three goals in the second. New Hampshire scored both of its goals in the third. Attendance was 504.

Horton opened the scoring at 3:30 of the first period, with Chloe Boreen and Sajevic assisting. Kenleigh Fischer made it 2-0 at 16:42, assisted by JuliAnna Gazdik and Maddie Brown. Dani Strom stopped 26 of 28 shots for St. Thomas. New Hampshire’s first goal came in the third period, when Aurora Kahlert scored, and Courtney Lilley added another later in the period.

In the second period, Boreen scored at 31:48, Sajevic scored at 32:31 off a feed from Jenessa Gazdik, and Horton added her second goal at 36:00 with assists from Cailin Mumm and Fischer. That gave the Tommies a five-goal cushion. Taylor Porthan pushed the lead to 6-0 at 47:47 of the third, assisted by Sajevic and Ellie Stewart. Kahlert put New Hampshire on the board at 53:17 from Nina Rossi and Danika Botterill. Nora Sauer answered for St. Thomas at 54:42, assisted by Fischer and Teagan Kulenkamp. Lilley closed the scoring at 58:14 from Addison Spitz.

Sajevic, a 5-foot-3 center from Shoreview, Minn., who previously played at Gentry Academy, finished with one goal, two assists, four shots on goal and was the top star. Fischer, a 5-foot-7 defenseman from Fargo, N.D., who previously played at Fargo North High School, had one goal, two assists and one shot. Horton, a 5-foot-9 left wing from Edina, Minn., who previously played at Edina High School, scored twice and recorded six shots. Strom, a 5-foot-6 goaltender from Dayton, Minn., who previously played at Maple Grove, earned the win with 26 saves. Boreen, a 5-foot-6 right wing from Somerset, Wis., who previously played at Hill-Murray, had one goal, one assist and three shots. Sauer, a 5-foot-11 right wing from Andover, Minn., who previously played at Andover, scored once and had four shots. Porthan, a 5-foot-4 center from Edina, Minn., who previously played at Edina High School, scored once and had two shots. JuliAnna Gazdik, a 5-foot-7 defenseman from Somerset, Wis., who previously played at Gentry Academy, had one assist and one shot. For New Hampshire, Kahlert, a 5-foot-6 defenseman from Maple Ridge, British Columbia, who previously played at British Columbia Schools, scored once and had two shots, while Rossi, a 5-foot-3 right wing from Pittsgrove, N.J., who previously played at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s School, had one assist and three shots.

St. Thomas scored seven goals from six different goal scorers. New Hampshire’s late goals came after St. Thomas had built a six-goal lead. The Wildcats are scheduled to play the second game of the series. New Hampshire is scheduled to visit Long Island next, and St. Thomas is set to host Ohio State in its following series. St. Thomas is also scheduled to play a second game against New Hampshire, two home games against Ohio State, two road games at Minnesota-Duluth, two home games against Saint Cloud State, and home-and-home sets with Minnesota State and Wisconsin. New Hampshire is set to play a second game at St. Thomas, two road games at Long Island, home games against Boston University, Saint Lawrence, Stonehill, Harvard and Merrimack, and a road game at Northeastern.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of New Hampshire 3, St. Thomas 1. Interstat’s ELO system gave New Hampshire a 53.9 percent probability to win.