Nick Swaney had a pair of goals and fellow junior Scott Pernunovich added three assists to spark the University of Minnesota Duluth to a 4-1 victory over the University of Denver Saturday night and put the finishing touches on a weekend   
National Collegiate Hockey Conference series sweep of the No. 4 Pioneers

No. 10 UMD, which is now unbeaten in its last five matchups with Denver (4-0-1), improves to 15-9-2 overall and 10-4-2-0 in the NCHC.

Following a scoreless first period, sophomore center Jackson Cates got the Bulldogs on the board at 8:59 of the second period when he went five-hole on Denver netminder Devin Cooley after Perunovich sprung him on a breakaway. Swaney potted the eventual game-winner just 39 seconds into the third, one-timing a shot from the slot.  Emilio Peterson's power play goal at the 7:44 mark cut the Denver deficit at the 7:44 mark, but Swaney then answered by striking on the man advantage with another one-timer for this 11th tally of the season. Sophomore right winger Cole Koepke, who scored once and assisted on another goal in the Bulldogs' 3-2 takedown of the Pioneers on Friday, iced the victory by hitting an empty with 2:02 remaining in regulation.

Perunovich finished the weekend with four assists to boost his team-leading point total to 32 (the most of any defenseman in the country).

Senior All-American goaltender Hunter Shepard, making his NCAA-record 107th consecutive start, was credited with 24 saves while Cooley had 11 stops for Denver, which went just 1-of-7 on the power play.

UMD attempted just 43 total shots, putting 27 on target, after managing a season-low 40 shots in the series opener.

Next up for the Bulldogs is a pair of NCHC bouts at home against the University of Nebraska-Omaha next Friday and Saturday night (Feb. 7-8).