UND Hockey: Thoughts on UND's Sweep of Bentley

 

This past weekend, the University of North Dakota swept their non-conference series against Bentley University. Coming into the series, I am not sure anyone knew what to expect. UND had never played Bentley, and despite the hype, everyone expected to come to Ralph Englestad Arena and battle UND for two games. That didn’t really materialize except for about 5 minutes of the first period in game one.

Head coach Dan Jackson mentioned that in Friday’s post-game press conference.

"Mentally, they were probably a little more ready to play than us," Jackson said. "We were not moving the puck very crisply or handling passes. We weren’t able to break out and come through the neutral zone. Once we got into the game, we were much better on our pass completion, and we started to play with some pace."

Once UND shook off their early-series jitters, they gave the Falcons nothing. UND was relentless, giving Bentley little time and space. UND held Bentley to 29 shots on net for the weekend and put 74 shots on the Falcons' net.

Obviously, this was an Atlantic Hockey opponent, and UND’s task will get a bit harder next weekend when they travel to Minnesota to play the winless Gophers 0-3-1. This past weekend was not good for Minnesota. The Gophers traveled to Amsoil Arena, were badly beaten 7-1 on Friday night, and then tied 2-2 with the Bulldogs in game two on Saturday. They’re off to a rough start after being swept by the Michigan Tech Huskies two weeks ago (3-2 L, 3-1 L). They’ll be a little angry, looking for redemption, and UND will face a hostile crowd at Mariucci in 3M Arena.

Zellers Held Scoreless

One thing that stood out this weekend was that UND’s top line of Will Zellers, Cole Reschny, and Jack Kernan played well, but UND’s top point-getter, Zellers, didn’t get on the score sheet. In two games against the Falcons, Zellers put seven shots on net and zero points on the scoreboard  (0g-0a—0pts) in 35 minutes of ice time. One thing that stood out to me on Saturday night was that 12 different UND players recorded at least one point in the win. That’s definitely the definition of balanced scoring.

UND Has Two Great Goalies

This past weekend, freshman goalie Caleb Heil got his first two collegiate starts and made the most of them. He capitalized on his opportunity, earning two wins and two shutouts. UND won both games 5-0. Sophomore goalie Jan Spunar wasn’t 100 percent healthy, so the coaching staff gave Spunar the weekend off.

“By the start of next week, he’ll be 100 percent,” Jackson said. “He was a little bit off, and we just wanted to be really careful. We wanted to get Caleb in there, but then when he played so well, it just gave us the luxury to, you know, get Jan really healthy.” 

According to the UND SID, Heil is believed to be the first freshman goaltender in North Dakota history to record back-to-back shutouts to begin his career. The stats line on Heil (2-0-0, 0.00 GAA, SV% 1,000): 2 shutouts.

Connor Davis Shines

This past weekend, freshman forward Connor Davis was very good; he’s going to make an immediate impact. I wonder if he flew under the radar. In the two-game series, he scored (1g-2--3pts). Friday, he was voted the second star of the game. My first impression: he goes hard to the net, gets in the dirty areas, and looks pretty good defensively. The Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, native is 20 years old and a fifth-round draft pick by the Vancouver Canucks. 

There will be more this week. If you haven't seen the games, here are the highlights from Friday and Saturday. Here are some of my photos from Saturday’s game. 

UND Sweeps BSU in Hard-Fought Series

 

The UND hockey team began its 2026-27 campaign with an impressive two-game sweep of the BSU Beavers (3-2 W, 4-3 W) in a non-conference series. As Hall of Fame radio announcer Tim Hennesy would say, "Those pesky Beavers gave UND all they could handle."

It was a hard-fought, entertaining series. Honestly, either game could’ve ended differently. 

Defensively, UND held BSU to 42 shots on the weekend. On special teams, UND went 3/8 (37.5) on the power play, and the PK didn’t give up a power-play goal on five opponent power plays. On Saturday night, BSU didn't have a shot on their two power-play opportunities. Not bad for a team that is playing with a lot of underclassmen. 

Much has been made of the youth of UND’s defensive corps. What did head coach Dan Jackson think of his team’s defensive effort after the first weekend of play? 

“Our details defensively have to get better,” Jackson said. “We’re still giving up too many rush chances. We’re still probably not defending hard enough from the inside out. We got to get harder at our net. We got to get better. We’re giving up too many rush chances, so I think those couple of things are going to be key.”

Leading UND on the weekend were forwards Will Zellers (2g-4a--6pts) and plus-three Mac Swanson (2g-2a--4pts), plus-one Cole Reschny (2g-1a--3pts), and plus-two. Jan Spunar was solid in net, picking up two wins (2-0-0, 2.51 GAA and an .881 save percentage).

This was the first time in 10 years that UND swept the Beavers in regulation, October 21-22, 2016 (3-2 W, 5-4 W). In the last five years, every game has been a one-goal game, with at least one game going to overtime. Grand Forks Herald UND beat writer Brad E. Schlossman even predicted that BSU would win game one in overtime. 

Hmm…. The call: snip— Friday: Bemidji State 4, UND 3, OT
Saturday: UND 4, Bemidji State 1 Via @SchlossmanGF

— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) October 9, 2026

Based on what we have seen in this series, that’s not a bad take. This weekend’s series was unusual because none of these games went to overtime. In the last five games of this series, at least one went to overtime; UND went 6-2-2 in those 10 games. 

Next weekend, UND entertains Bentley University of Atlantic Hockey. The Falcons beat the University of Vermont 3-0 and lost to Northeastern University 5-1. 

Here are a few images from Saturday's game taken during the first period. 

UND Escapes with a Point in Overtime Loss Against UMD, 3-2

Some nights, a team just doesn't have it. On Friday night, the UND hockey team came out flat against the UMD Bulldogs. 

When you can chase a game for almost two and a half periods of hockey and still come out of the game with a crucial NCHC conference point, it might be a win. Yes, no one likes moral victories, especially in the UND fanbase. No, it wasn't their best effort, and when the UND coaching staff looks back at Friday's game against UMD, they're going to want to come out with a better effort in game two. Poor efforts like this won't win playoff games in March and April. 

 Friday's game, UND played undisciplined hockey, taking senseless penalties. In the first period, UND had to kill three consecutive Bulldog Power plays. NODAK can thank their goaltender Jan Špunar (13-3-0, GAA 1.81, and .922 SV%) for keeping UND in the game during the parade to the penalty box. He made some amazing saves. UND was lucky to escape the first period tied with UMD, 0-0. 

In the second period, UMD would take a 2-0 lead into the third period with goals from Hunter Anderson and Zam Plante. 

In the third period, UND showed up and took over the game. At the 10:08 mark of the third period, Ellis Rickwood scored shorthanded to get UND on the board. Eight minutes later, Jack Kernan scored the game-tying goal.

Besides playing undisciplined hockey, UND took the first two periods off before taking the game over in the third. Not their best effort, and they were lucky to escape with a point on Friday. 

"You don't very often get a point when you play two poor periods," head coach Dane Jackson said. 

Echoing his head coach's sentiment, freshman forward Jack Kernan said, "We were kind of sleeping through the first two periods. Maybe it had to do with the bye week, bus legs, I don't know what it was." 

Despite the loss in OT, here's an interesting stat: UND is 10-3-0 on the road this season, and two of those losses have come in OT. Even with the loss, UND still sits in first place of the NCHC standings, two points clear of DU, which has played two more games than UND. Looking down the standings, UND is seven points clear of Western Michigan, after losing 3-2 to Miami in OT. More importantly, UND remained in third in the NPI ratings.

Freshman forward Jack Kernan is on a bit of a heater. He scored his seventh goal of the season and has five goals over his last nine games. Kernan is tied for fourth on the team in goals and has scored (7g-5a—12pts), he's averaging .50 points a game. Two of his seven goals are game-winning goals. 

Senior forward Ellis Rickwood continued his torrid pace, with his shortened goal; he has seven points (2G, 5A) over his last three games. Despite missing five games due to injury, Rickwood is tied for second on the team in points with (7g-18a—25pts). Three of his seven goals are game-winning goals. 

 If you didn't see the game, here are the highlights from Friday's game. 

  

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

 

UND Sweeps Omaha in Omaha, a Night of Firsts

How sweep it is. Here are my thoughts from this past weekend. UND traveled to Omaha for its first National Collegiate Hockey Conference road series of the season. 

Mission accomplished. UND returned home with six conference points. 

What a difference a year makes. On Saturday night, after Omaha scored the goal to make it 2-1, last year's team might have crumbled and lost the game. The 2025-26 UND hockey team has a much better mental makeup. They seem to thrive on adversity. Nodak would score two more goals to give UND the win and an impressive (7-2 W, 4-1 W) sweep of Omaha. 

Not that it matters, but UND is sitting atop the NCHC standings after two weekends of conference play. Obviously, it's early, and there are 22 more conference games to go. UND has improved, but still has a lot of work to do. 

I posted this on Sioux Sports: I don't know about y'all, but I never felt that UND was going to lose last night's game. Was it a tight game? Of course. UND frustrated the Mavericks throughout the weekend. There is definitely a difference in talent level between UND and Omaha. I saw many things this past weekend that gave me hope. This team is one of the younger ones in college hockey, and they're making great strides. I have been impressed with the CHL kids, as well as the freshmen, such as Kernan and Zellers. Are there things that need to be cleaned up? Yes, 100 percent. Mac Swanson is starting to excel and make plays. 

Two-Headed Goalie Rotation

If UND has a two-headed monster in the net, that would be a good thing, too. We should find out over the next month what UND has in net. Okay, I am guilty, after I saw the lineup was posted for Saturday's game, I tweeted this. Okay, maybe it didn't age well. 

I am a little puzzled that Gibson Homer gets the start tonight after Jan Spunar was awesome in net last night. pic.twitter.com/aON6lNSOlg

— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) November 9, 2025

Gibson Homer has appeared in seven games and is (4-3-0, 2.74 GAA, and a .890 save percentage). Looking at his career numbers, this is by far his worst in his three-year career. Counting this year, he has two years of eligibility left, but the word is that he's going to turn pro after the season is over. His victory on Saturday broke a three-game losing streak. 

Jan Spunar has appeared in three games (3-0-0, 1.01 GAA, and a .951 save percentage). Spunar has let in three goals in 178.09 minutes of play. That's impressive. 

Night of Firsts

Yes, it was a night of firsts. Freshman forward Jack Kernan scores the first goal of his collegiate career. It will be the first of many to come.   

Kernan gets his first and it's a big one! #UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/8aRBOVzIF9

— North Dakota Hockey (@UNDmhockey) November 9, 2025

Entering the season, I expected more from Anthony Menghini, the junior forward from Baxter, Minnesota. I was also excited that he was signed by UND. First, he entered the season having scored 20 goals in 72 games. This year, my excitement had faded. Through the first eight games, he's been almost invisible until Saturday night, when he scored his first goal of his UND hockey career in his ninth game. That was also his first career point with UND. Hopefully, this is the first of many for Gino.  

First in a UND sweater for Menghini! #UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/kY7TppPc1k

— North Dakota Hockey (@UNDmhockey) November 9, 2025

CHL Alumni Take Center Stage 

We've heard a lot about the CHL players being eligible to play in NCAA hockey. Now, all of a sudden, the NHL media has spent more time taking a look at NCAA hockey. Albeit, they have foamed and slobbered all over Penn State and Gavin McKenna. What the writers are discovering is that Division 1 college hockey is challenging. There are no nights off. 

When Friday’s game was over, he’d scored what would stand as Penn State’s lone goal of the weekend, finished plus-1, registered a game-high seven shots (nearly a third of the 25 his team registered) and played a game-high 23:57.

And yet the gathering collection of scouts and hockey folks weren’t kind to him leaving the rink, with multiple NHL scouts commenting to The Athletic over the course of the weekend on his work rate off the puck, a number of backchecks he appeared to give up on, pucks he didn’t stop on and an ongoing desire for more effort. (Link) 

With development of CHL players getting to play in college hockey, this has also changed how teams in the NCAA have recruited. This season, UND has four players who have come over from the WHL; these players are making an impact. After 10 games, forward Cole Reschny has scored (2g-8a--10pts), and he's also a minus-one. He's averaging 16:48 minutes a game.

It's hard to believe that Keaton Verhoeff is 17 years old. The freshman defenseman from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta has scored (4g-2a--6pts) and is plus-two. He's scored one goal on the power play and is probably going to be a top-five draft pick. 

While everyone is ranting and raving aobut Gavin McKenna, there are other players in college hockey that should be grabbing everyones attention. The aforementioned Reschny has 10 points in 10 games, McKenna has played two more games and is only four points ahead (4g-10a--14pts).  

Last weekend, Ollie Josephson (2g-4a--6pts), had a breakthrough weekend, scoring (2g-2a--4pts), Friday night, he added an assist to his points total. Unfortunatley, his three-game points streak came to an end on Saturday night.  Nodak has won four straight over Omaha and four straight at Baxter Arena, and they have won five of the last six games they've played against the Mavericks. Nodak is 6-4-0 in he last 10 games they've played against Omaha.  

Finally, freshman Josh Zakreski was having a good season, until he suffered a serious lower-body injury. Until his injury, the Portland Winterhawks Alum was playing a significant role.  In six games, the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native scored (1g-2a--3pts). He's listed as month-to-month. Hope he can return before the season is over.       

Senior Forward Dylan James 

During his collegiate career, senior forward Dylan James has scored 37 goals, nine (.243) of them have come against Omaha. Three of them were scored this past weekend.

Omaha goalie Simon Latkoczy has now played UND 14 times in his 5-9 and has lost four out of the last five games against UND. One final stat, as we mentioned earlier James has scored goals agianst Omaha, six of his nine goals have come against Latkoczy. 

A Couple of Things From UMD vs. UND

While the games between UND and UMD are a great rivalry, Nodak has owned the Bulldogs as of late. With Saturday's 5-1 win, UND improves to 162-92-11 (.632) all-time against Minnesota Duluth and 89-40-3 at home. UND has only lost twice in the last 15 games against the Bulldogs. 

One of my observations after Friday's game was that Nodak needed to simplify its game and put the puck on net instead of making the extra pass. I asked Ben Strinden about that. 

Strinden agreed, “We got a great team, but it’s a young team for sure. So there’s obviously a learning curve. Guys are gonna learn that they’re gonna maybe not pass up shots as much as they would in juniors.”         

After Saturday's game, UND has found a starting goalie, or it would appear that they have. 

A tale of two goalies from this past weekend. UND goalie Gibson Homer has been very inconsistent. In six games with UND, he's 3-3-0 with a .870 save percentage and a 2.84 goals against average. He's given up 18 goals on 138 shots. Many times, he's been out of position and given up juicy rebounds. Although I may be missing the point, I have been underwhelmed by his performance so far. 

Friday night in the 3-on-3 OT, UMD would score 43 seconds into the extra session with a goal from Bulldogs defenseman Ty Hanson. Looking at the replay, Gibsom Homer actually made the initial save on the shot, but knocked the puck into his own net with his glove. It could be bad luck, or that UND has played better when Jan Spunar is in the net. 

On the other hand, freshman goalie Jan Spunar started the second game of his college career, and after giving up a goal on UMD’s first shot of the game, he buckled down and was rock solid the rest of the way, stopping a breakaway effort by Max Plante. Spunar's positioning looks solid, and he doesn't seem to get caught out of position. While he has a small sample size, I've been impressed with his performance. I'd like to see more of him. 

Spunar may have won the starting position for UND. He is unbeaten in two games, stopping 36 of 37 shots he’s faced in 120 minutes of hockey. While it’s early, the line on Spunar is impressive: 2-0-0, GAA .50, Save Percentage: .973. 

Speaking of goalies, UMD goalie Adam Gajan has not played well against UND. Looking at his stats, he has been pulled four times out of the last six games he’s played against UND. He’s given up 19 goals and has a 1-4-0 (.200) record. At the 44.40 mark of the game, Gajan had given up a fifth goal and was relegated to the bench. I can imagine he’s not unhappy about facing a new opponent next weekend. Sophomore goalie Ethan Dahlmeir entered the game for the Bulldogs and played the final 15:20, and was solid in net. 

None of the current Bulldogs have had much luck against UND. In the last 10 games, UND has a 9-1-0 (.900) record against UMD. 

One player who has stood out for me is UND freshman forward Ollie Josephson. The Victoriaville native scored his first goal of the UND career on Friday night and added an assist to lead the team in scoring. He followed up his solid performance with another goal and an assist on Saturday night as well. After scoring just a single assist in his first six games, he had a solid weekend against UMD.  Just for the record, he's only 19 years, 3 months, and 11 days old. He's a big, strong player who is good in all three zones on the ice.