Clarkson University struck for a couple of first-period goals and went on to post a 3-1 victory over the University of Minnesota Duluth and claim the Desert Hockey Classic championship on Saturday night in Glendale, Ariz. That put the wraps on 2018 for the No. 4 Bulldogs, who fell to 11-5-2 on the year.

Trailing 2-0 at the first intermission, UMD struck just 32 seconds into the second period when sophomore center Justin Richards, on a 2-1 rush, dished off a pass to senior right winger Parker Mackay, who rapped in his team-leading eighth goal of the season. UMD wound up outshooting the No. 19 Golden Knights 24-11 over the final two periods (and 30-15 for the night), but were held in check by Clarkson goaltender Jake Kielly. The Golden Knights sealed the win -- its first in the last six tries against UMD going back to the 1984 NCAA playoffs -- with an empty net goal at 19:26 of the third period.

The two clubs each went 0-for-3 on the power play as the Bulldogs extended their streak of consecutive penalty kills to 28. UMD's penalty killers also outshot Clarkson's power play unit 4-1.

Junior Nick Wolff paced both clubs with five shots while his defensive partner, sophomore Louie Roehl, who scored once in Friday's 4-3 overtime victory Minnesota State University-Mankato and had the secondary assist on  Mackay's goal tonight, was the lone Bulldog to post a positive plus-minus rating (+1).

"I thought our guys competed really hard tonight," said UMD Associate Head Coach Jason Herter, who filled in this weekend for Head Coach Scott Sandelin while he's away assisting coaching the U.S. at the IIHF World Junior Championships. "That was a hard team to play against and coming into it, that was a playoff-style hockey game. Our guys, even though we were down 2-0, were still playing hard and carrying the play. But, there was just some second-effort on certain pucks that they had more of than we did tonight."

The Bulldogs will usher in the New Year next Saturday evening (Jan. 5) with an exhibition engagement against the U.S. National Under-18 Team at AMSOIL Arena.