KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Lawson Ice Arena crowd of 2,888 witnessed a convincing win for visiting Minnesota-Duluth, which scored six of its goals in the third period.
The eight-goal outing was sparked by captain Karson Kuhlman’s hat trick, who struck twine twice in the third and once in the second period. Hunter Shepard made 22 saves to maintain a shutout. Western Michigan opted to substitute Trevor Gorsuch in the third after he conceded four goals. Austin Cain replaced him and conceded another four goals in one period.
Kuhlman scored the first, fourth and eighth goals for UMD. Jared Thomas assisted in goal one and goal number eight while Avery Peterson assisted in the first and fourth goal. UMD only scored on two power plays but the man advantage didn’t seem to carry any weight as UMD found ease on even strength as well.
After a scoreless first period, the Bulldogs exploded with two in the second and six goals in the third period to open the weekend series.
