Noah Cates scored twice and added an assist and Hunter Shepard had 25 saves to lead ninth-ranked Minnesota Duluth to a 5-0 victory over Colorado College Saturday night at Amsoil Arena.
 
Scott Perunovich added three assists after collecting four helpers Friday night and Jackson Cates added a pair of assists for the Bulldogs (7-4-1, 4-1-1 NCHC).
 
Kobe Roth opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 11:46 mark of the first period. Roth took a cross-ice pass from Noah Cates and placed a shot over the shoulder of CC goalie Ryan Ruck.
 
The Tigers (4-5-1, 2-3-1 NCHC) had a golden opportunity to tie the game with six minutes remaining in the second period, but Chris Wilkie's blast from the slot rang off the post. CC had several good looks in the first two periods, but could not solve Shepard.
 
The Bulldogs doubled the lead a couple of minutes later when Cole Koepke's wraparound attempt went right through the crease to Justin Richards, who flipped a backhand past Ruck at 16:08 of the middle frame.
 
Ruck kept it a 2-0 game late in the period with a sprawling save on Koepke during a 2-on-1 following the expiration of a UMD penalty.
 
With the Bulldogs on a power play to start the third period, Zach Berzolla was whistled for a five-minute major 39 seconds into the period for checking from behind and Noah Cates scored from the slot nine seconds into the 5-on-3 to make it 3-0.
 
Cates scored a similar goal with UMD still on the power play at the 3:51 mark and Luke Loheit closed out the scoring at 12:23 of the final frame.
 
What Head Coach Mike Haviland Said
"I thought we were the better team for the first 40 minutes. We had a lot of grade 'A' chances."
 
"This is our fourth game in a row with a major penalty, we have to be smarter. Going into the third, we were playing pretty good, then we take a five-minute major and it's a 5-on-3 and they score twice."
 
"We had a ton of chances to score early and get some momentum but we didn't. I think we are close but that's not good enough."
 
Three Stars of the Game
1. Noah Cates, Minnesota Duluth (2g,1a)
2. Scott Perunovich, Minnesota Duluth (3a)
3. Hunter Shepard, Minnesota Duluth (25 saves)
 
Colorado College Notes
Alex Berardinelli led the Tigers with a season-high five shots
Ruck had a season-high 30 saves
CC was 0-for-4 on the power play
Minnesota Duluth held a 35-25 advantage in shots
 
Up Next
The Tigers are idle until travelling to New Jersey to take on Princeton University, Dec. 6-7.