ALLENTOWN, PA. – Minnesota Duluth is heading to the Frozen Four for the third year in a row.

Peter Krieger scored with 4 minutes, 48 seconds left in the second period, Hunter Shepard made 21 saves and the defending national champion Bulldogs earned a spot in the national semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Quinnipiac in the Midwest Regional final.

Kobe Roth made it 2-0 for UMD (27-11-2) in the third period, and Parker Mackay added an empty-netter with 57 seconds left against Quinnipiac (26-9-2), which got its goal from Craig Martin on the power play with 3:03 remaining.

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The Bulldogs, the only one of three top-seeded Minnesota programs to survive the first round of the tournament, will play Providence in the first of two national semfinals on April 11 in Buffalo, N.Y.

"A lot of resiliency and character. … I'm just real proud of our team," said Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin, who improved to 19-6 in the NCAA tournament.