Win quarterfinal round series. Check.

The University of Minnesota Duluth took the first step in its National Collegiate Hockey Conference playoff title defense Saturday by shutting out Western Michigan University for a second consecutive night and sweeping the best-of-three series with the Broncos.

The No. 8 Bulldogs (21-14-3 overall) skated off with a 2-0 victory at AMSOIL Arena -- 24 hours after throttling Western Michigan 5-0.  UMD got a goal from rookie defenseman Louie Roehl (on a tap-in) 2:24 into the opening period and an empty netter from senior center Jared Thomas with 0.9 seconds to go in regulation while winning for the seventh time in its last night. Sophomore goaltender Hunter Shepard, making his 33rd straight start, was credited with 19 saves en route to posting his school-record eighth shutout of the year -- and fourth against Western Michigan since last November.

UMD, which went 5-1-0 in its six matchups with Western Michigan this season (outscoring the Broncos 24-5 in the process), held a 25-19 advantage in shots on the night (10-2 in the first period alone). Both clubs went 0-3 on the power play.

"Obviously, they were going to come at us hard tonight -- their season was on the line," said UMD senior right wing Karson Kuhlman, who played in his final home game (and 160th game in a row overall). "Overall, I think we were happy with the way we played and finished off this series."

The Bulldogs will now move on to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, which gets underway Friday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, marking their third consecutive appearance at that four-team event.