The University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs closed out the most successful decade in program history the same way they started it -- with a non-conference road win.

UMD got a personal-best  three-point afternoon from sophomore right winger Cole Koepke and goals from four other players and cruised past Merrimack College 5-1 Monday to complete its fourth series sweep of the 2019-20 season.

Koepke, who scored once and assisted on another goal in Sunday's 4-1 triumph over the Warriors, gave the No. 10 Bulldogs a 1-0 lead with 2:59 left in the first period on a shot from between the faceoff circles. He then helped set up the next two goals (sophomore defenseman Louie Roehl at 7:31 of the second period and junior center Justin Richards  37 seconds later) as UMD went up 3-0. Junior right winger Nick Swaney struck on the power play at the 16:37 mark of the second period, capping off a string of eight straight Bulldog goals stretching back to Sunday afternoon. Merrimack's Chase Gresock put an end to that run -- and UMD senior goaltender Hunter Shepard's bid for a school-record 18th lifetime shutout -- on a backhand near the Bulldog goal crease 6:37 into the third period before sophomore center Noah Cates answered with his team-leading 10th tally of the season midway through that same period.

Shepard, a 2018-19 All-American, finished with 16 saves while he and the Bulldogs improved to 11-6-1 overall and extended their road winning streak to five games. His Merrimack counterpart, Jere Huhtamaa, was credited with 21 stops.

Ten Bulldogs marked in the scoring column, including Richards (one goal and one assist for the second straight afternoon), sophomore center Jackson Cates (two assists) and  rookie left winger Quinn Olson, who assisted on a pair of scores for the first multi-point outing of his young collegiate career.

Monday's game marked the opening of the second half of the 2019-20 regular season for UMD, which returns to the ice on Jan. 10-11 to host National Collegiate Hockey Conference rival Western Michigan University.