The UND hockey team moved within one game of advancing to the 2024 NCHC Frozen Faceoff with an impressive 5-1 win over the last-place Miami RedHawks. After the first period, the game wasn't close. After taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, UND scored two in the second and two in the third to race past the hapless RedHawks.
Miami's season has been miserable. The RedHawks last won a game 63 days ago, on January 13, 2024. UND is looking to end Miami's season on Saturday at 6:07 p.m.
It was a night of surprises. UND senior goalie Ludvig Persson was a last-minute scratch, due to an unknown reason. Freshman goalie Hobie Hedquist took the net and stopped 23 of 24 shots for a .958 save percentage. Hedquist is 4-0-0, 2.28 GAA and .906 save percentage. In the post-game press conference, UND head coach Brad Berry was asked if Hedquist would be starting on Saturday.
"I don't know," Berry said. "I'll let you guys know tomorrow when you get to the rink."
On Friday night, UND junior forward Jake Schmaltz scored his first goal of the season—his first in 33 games. Schmaltz last scored on March 12, 2023. His goalless streak lasted one year and three days. Schmaltz was all smiles after the game.
"I figured I was due for one, and now we are just trying to keep building on it," Schmaltz said. "Hopefully, they keep falling for me.
With UND's win, UND improves to 25-10-2 and 15-8-1 NCHC. With the loss, Miami drops to 7-25-3 and 1-21-2 NCHC. The Hawks improve to 30-8-1 all-time against the RedHawks. UND is 14-3-2 against Miami in Grand Forks. 
Another record was tied. With his goal and assist, freshman defenseman Jake Livanavage tied former defenseman Brian Lee for the most points by a rookie defenseman at UND since the 1999-00 season. When asked about tying Brian Lee's record, Livanavage brushed his accomplishment off.
"(I am) not focused on that right now," Livanavage said. "We've got a lot of season ahead of us. That's what I'm focused on. I don't care about the individual awards. I care about the team aspect."
UND's high-octane offense. UND now has two 20-goal scorers. On Friday, Jackson Blake scored his 20th goal of the season, becoming the second player to hit 20 goals. Blake and Cameron Berg are the first two players to score 20 goals since the 2015-16 season when Brock Boeser and Drake Caggiula accomplished that feat. Riese Gaber scored his 17th goal of the season, giving UND the possibility of having three players score 20 or more goals.
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