Rivalry Game? UND Runs Over Omaha, 4-1

They say that winning can be contagious. After last year's team struggled throughout the season, the 2025-26 UND hockey team has played like it has something to prove. Head coach Dane Jackson was hired to turn the program around, and the team has improved significantly so far. UND has been tenacious, hard to play against, and solid in all three zones.  

On Friday night, the UND hockey team beat the Omaha Mavericks 4-1 to improve to 13-4-0 (.764). NoDak improves to 7-2-0 in NCHC play. UND currently sits in second place in the NCHC standings. Compared with last season, UND didn't win its 13th game until February 1, 2025. 

UND has won 9 of its last 10 games and has won five in a row. They've won 11 of 13 games (.846) by four or more goals. 

UND is fifth in the nation in scoring, and their leading scorer, Ben Strinden (11g-8a--19pts), is ranked 27th nationally. Their second leading scorer, Cole Reschny (2g-16a--18pts), is ranked 34th nationally. What's even more impressive, UND's power play ranks third nationally, scoring on 30.8 percent of its power plays. You see where this is going? UND is doing it while getting balanced scoring throughout the lineup. If one line gets shut down, another forward line steps up to fill the void. 

In Jan We Trust 

On Friday night, a freshman goaltender, Jan Spunar, won his ninth game of the season to improve his record to (9-0-0, 1.67 GAA and .934 SV%). On Friday, Spunar broke the UND record for the most consecutive wins to begin a career. You might ask: Who were the goaltenders tied for the old-school record? They are Eddie Belfor and Jordan Parise. Yes, that Eddie Belfor. Spunar is in good company. 

Spunar’s teammates have been impressed by their rookie goaltender's play, who has broken the school record for wins to start a career.

”It's incredible to come in as a freshman like that and be such a rock for us,” Ben Strinden said. “We're so happy for him. He's obviously a great goaltender, but he's an even better person off the ice, and it makes you want to root for a guy. We are very happy for him.”

He's been unbelievable, Ellis Rickwood said. “Just really steady, really good at keeping rebounds out, and just a rock back there. We play hard for him. He plays hard for us, and that's amazing. You don't see records broken like that too often. So congrats to him.”

“Just an incredible run, head coach Dane Jackson said. “So consistently solid and then at times spectacular, so proud of him and so impressive to see, kind of the length of time he's been able to carry that high level of play.”

Is Omaha a Rival?

Earlier today, the Omaha Mavericks hockey account tweeted this on X. This was the discussion on X today. If you were to ask me, I'd say no. Rivalry or not. The players don't like each other. There was an actual fight in the closing minutes of the third period. Andrew Strathmann and Sean Tschigerl were given five-minute majors and game disqualification penalties, meaning they will be watching from the stands on Saturday night. 

UND's coach Jackson wasn't happy with the incident at the end of the game. 

“Yeah, it was disappointing,” Jackson said. “Obviously, we’re short numbers, and they did the same thing down in Omaha. So it's disappointing that our guys are kind of standing up for themselves after they're instigating.”

Rivalry night 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮. #ForThe402 pic.twitter.com/5DCk3k1bMT

— Omaha Hockey (@OmahaHKY) December 12, 2025