Hobie Hedquist will be the starting goalie again for North Dakota when the top-seeded Fighting Hawks play fifth-seeded Omaha in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff semifinals today (Friday) at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Puck drop is at 4:07 p.m. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network. North Dakota has a record of 26-10-2, while the Mavericks are 22-11-4.
A freshman, Hedquist was pushed into action in the NCHC quarterfinals against Miami last weekend and played well as UND swept the best-of-three series.
The Heron Lake native made 51 saves on 53 shots against over the weekend, allowing only one goal each night.
He is the first freshman to start a playoff game at North Dakota since Zane McIntyre did so in the 2012-13 season.
Hedquist is also the first UND freshman goaltender to start 5-0-0 in his career since Jordan Parise won his first eight starts in 2003-04.
He has played in six games, starting five. Hedquist has allowed 11 goals for a 2.05 goals against average. He has recorded 124 saves and has a .919 save percentage. In three starts against NCHC teams, he has a .961 save percentage.
The second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. has second-seeded Denver (26-9-3) facing third-seeded St. Cloud State (17-15-5). The winners play in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.