The  University of Minnesota Duluth capped off a four-game regular-season sweep of National Collegiate Hockey Conference rival Colorado College with a convincing 6-1 victory Saturday night at the Broadmoor World Arena. UMD used a balanced scoring attack as 11 different Bulldogs marked in the points column, including sophomore center Noah Cates, who tallied once and added two assists. 

With the victory, the Bulldogs improve to 20-10-2 overall, marking fourth consecutive season UMD has reached the 20-win mark and 10th time it has done so 20-year tenure of head coach Scott Sandelin.

UMD struck first with 5:38 remaining in the opening period when sophomore right winger Tanner Laderoute netted his second goal of the weekend and ninth of the season off of a deflection from sophomore left winger Cole Koepke. Koepke, who had a goal and and assist in UMD's 4-2 takedown of the Tigers on Friday, extended his scoring streak to a career-high eight games and his 2019-20 point total to 30.

The No. 5 Bulldogs (15-5-2-0 in the NCHC) flexed their offensive muscle  in the second period with four goals. Just 59 seconds into the period, junior right winger Nick Swaney picked up a loose puck behind the Tiger net, spun around, and shoved it between the Colorado College goaltender Matt Vernon's legs to double UMD's advantage. A couple of minutes later, freshman right winger Luke Loheit split between two Tiger defenders and beat Vernon from a tight angle on the right side for his fourth goal as a Bulldog. At the 13:25 mark of the second period,  junior All-American defenseman Scott Perunovich fired a laser pass from deep in the Bulldogs' offensive zone that found sophomore center Noah Cates on the Tiger blue line. Cates buried a shot on a breakaway for this 14th goal to season, tying him with Koepke for the team lead.  With 2:39 remaining before the second intermission, freshman lef winger Quinn Olson put the Bulldogs up 5-0 on his fifth goal of the season .

Colorado College (11-19-2 overall; 4-16-2-1 NCHC) spoiled  senior All-American goaltender Hunter Shepard's bid for a fourth career shutout against the Tigers when Nick Halloran shoved in a loose puck with 8:46 left in the game. The Bulldog response came just over a minute later as senior center Jade Miller scored on a one-timer for UMD's sixth even strength goal of the evening.

Notables:
UMD is now guaranteed of finishing no lower than second in the NCHC ... Four Bulldogs recorded multiple-point efforts in the Saturday's triumph: Cates (1-2=3), Richards (1-1=2), Olson (1-1=2), and Perunovich (0-2=2) ... UMD continued their dominance over the Tigers Saturday evening -- the Bulldogs are now 18-2-3 in their last 23 matchups with CC ... the stretch includes a 9-1-1 mark at Broadmoor World Arena ... Shepard, who is now 9-1-0 all-time versus the Tigers, racked up 27 saves ... UMD outshot the Tigers 44-28 ... Bulldogs, who came into the night sporting the nation's third-most efficient power play, went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will wrap up NCHC play next week with a pair of matchups with rival St. Cloud State. Puck is set to drop for game one on Friday (Mar. 6) at 7:07 p.m. at Amsoil Arena.