Seventeen former NAHL players to play for NCAA title

Seventeen North American Hockey League (NAHL) graduates will play for this year's NCAA Division I national championship after the University of Minnesota Duluth and University of Michigan won their respective Frozen Four semifinal games on Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

In the first semifinal game, Minnesota Duluth downed the University of Notre Dame, 4-3. Former Fairbanks Ice Dogs forward Kyle Schmidt connected for a goal in the win, and goaltender Kenny Reiter, who played in the NAHL with the Ice Dogs, Texarkana-St. Louis Bandits and Cleveland Jr. Barons, made 31 saves.

In the second semifinal, former Alpena IceDiggers goaltender Shawn Hunwick turned aside all 40 shots he faced as Michigan blanked the University of North Dakota, 2-0. Defenseman Scooter Vaughan, who played for the NAHL's St. Louis Bandits, notched one of the two Wolverine goals.

University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA)
Justin Faulk, Freshman Defenseman - USNTDP
Keegan Flaherty, Sophomore Forward - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
Mike Montgomery, Senior Defenseman - Southern Minnesota Express
Trent Palm, Senior Defenseman - USNTDP
Kenny Reiter, Senior Goaltender- Fairbanks Ice Dogs/Texarkana-St. Louis Bandits/Cleveland Jr. Barons
Kyle Schmidt, Senior Forward - Fairbanks Ice Dogs

University of Michigan (CCHA)
Chris Brown, Sophomore Forward - USNTDP
Kevin Clare, Freshman Defenseman - USNTDP
Jacob Fallon, Freshman Forward - USNTDP
Shawn Hunwick, Senior Goaltender - Alpena IceDiggers
Kevin Lynch, Sophomore Forward - USNTDP
Jon Merrill, Freshman Defenseman - USNTDP
Luke Moffatt, Freshman Forward - USNTDP
Matt Rust, Senior Forward - USNTDP
A.J. Treais, Sophomore Forward - USNTDP
Scooter Vaughan, Senior Defenseman - St. Louis Bandits
David Wohlberg, Junior Forward - USNTDP

The championship game will be played on Saturday, April 10 at the Xcel Energy Center (6 p.m. CST).