Clara Van Wieren's first collegiate hat trick helped propel the No. 6/7 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team over Long Island University Saturday at AMSOIL Arena, completing the series sweep for the newly minted 2-0 Bulldogs.

One day after watching graduate senior forward Mannon McMahon ring up the Sharks for four goals, Van Wieren completed her hat trick before the second period ended. Van Wieren and McMahon become the first pair of Bulldogs to pin back-to-back hat tricks since Pernilla Winberg (Feb. 18, 2011) and Audrey Cournoyer (Feb. 19, 2011) did it against St. Cloud State University.

Van Wieren got the scoring party started just 1:02 into the first period, a wrist shot from the slot that beat LU goaltender Tindra Holm.

6:21 into the second period, Van Wieren netted her second tally on the power play, ripping a rebound from inside the left circle to double UMD's lead. Van Wieren then struck again at 17:38, getting her stick on another rebound in front of the net for her first-ever Bulldog hat trick and a 3-0 lead for the home side.

A mere 26 seconds into the third period, graduate senior Reece Hunt used the pipe to score UMD's second power play of the afternoon and fourth of the series. Hunt's first goal with the Bulldogs also gave rookie defenseman Ida Karlsson her first collegiate assist, as well as senior blueliner Nina Jobst-Smith's third point of the series and second of the game on the secondary assist.

Sophomore goaltender Hailey MacLeod earned her second career shutout with 10 saves to her credit. In net for  Sharks, Holm had 51 stops for a total of 97 against UMD. The Bulldogs heavily outshot the Sharks 55-10 in the game for a grand total of 107-22 on the weekend. UMD also was an impressive 4-of-6 on its power play against LIU overall.

The Bulldogs will return to AMSOIL next weekend for a must-watch Western Collegiate Hockey Association showdown with No. 2 Ohio State University. The Friday-Saturday series will get underway Friday afternoon with a 3:00 p.m. puck drop.