DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Duluth took the weekend and season series sweep against Miami University after beating them 3-1 on Saturday night. This is the sixth win in a row for the Bulldogs which sets a new single season National Collegiate Hockey Conference win streak for UMD. The Bulldogs now sit at 12-5-2 on the year while the Redhawks drop to 4-14-2 on the year. UMD outshot the Redhawks 58-31, with 28 coming in the first period. Those 28 sets a new single period record for the men's hockey team for shots, breaking the previous record of 26 set in the 1996-97 season. Those 58 shots are an NCHC record in a game.
 
"Good win again. It's tough to beat a team four times in a row," said head coach Scott Sandelin. "I really liked our first period. I thought offensively, we had numerous changes. When we didn't score on the penalty shot and on the 5-on-3, they probably got a big lift off that and that showed in the second. They came out and tied the game. I told our guys you have to find a way to win, it's what we talked about this morning, it's going to be that kind of game. The end result is we found a way to win the game in the third scoring a couple goals."
 
Freshman goaltender Zach Stejskal got the nod in net tonight and made 30 saves on 31 shots. Stejskal now carries a 3-1-0 record on the year, holding a 1.23 goals against average and a .951 save percentage. Miami's Ludvig Persson was back in goal today, turning out a solid bounce back performance making 55 saves on 57 shots, an NCHC record.
 
Things were much more quiet than last night in the scoring department. Shots were a whole other story. UMD came out of the gates firing, turning in 20 shots before the first 10-minute mark. Senior forward Nick Swaney got things rolling with 7:07 to go in the period. While holding the Redhawks' zone, junior defenseman Hunter Lellig passed across the blueline to senior defenseman Matt Anderson. Anderson took a shot from the left point and Swaney got a stick on it to get it past Persson for a 1-0 lead.
 
Miami found its way on the scoreboard in the second period. After winning a faceoff in UMD's zone, the Redhawks passed the puck around and it eventually found its way to defenseman Alec Mahalak. Mahalak shot the puck from the point and forward Matthew Barbolini tipped it by Stejskal's glove for a 1-1 game 4:12 into the second frame.
 
Things quieted back down until the third period. Miami was awarded a five-minute power play after senior forward Koby Bender drove hard to the net and clipped Persson on the head, receiving a game misconduct. The Bulldogs killed it off and found momentum. UMD managed to grab a 2-1 lead 1:25 after the penalty concluded. Junior forward Cole Koepke netted his eighth goal in the last five games. On the man advantage, the Bulldogs passed the puck around. The puck came to senior forward Kobe Roth, who dished it cross ice to Koepke. He took two strides down and picked a top shelf spot on the short side with 8:48 to go in the game.
 
"There was a scrum in the corner," said junior forward Cole Koepke. "Jackson did a good job of finding Kobe who was along the wall for support and he just made a great play all the way across ice to me. I just kind of went down, saw a little opening and decided I might as well take the shot. Luckily enough, it went in."
 
Roth put away an empty netter to seal the deal with 22.8 left on the clock.
 
Koepke finished with a goal, assist and 15 shots. Roth finished with a goal, assist and three shots. Swaney scored one and took seven shots on the day. Anderson, Lellig and junior forward Jackson Cates all finished with one assist. Senior defenseman Louie Roehl had three blocked shots, while Anderson, senior defenseman Matt Cairns, junior forward Noah Cates and freshman defenseman Wyatt Kaiser all finished with two blocked shots.
 
UMD hits the road next weekend (Feb. 12-13), heading to Kalamazoo, Mich. to take on Western Michigan University for the third and fourth time in the last four weeks.