GRAND FORKS — UND hasn’t announced its goaltending plan for this weekend.
But it probably doesn’t take a Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein investigation to figure out the most likely scenario.
UND has split starts between its goaltenders the last three weekends, and both freshman Jan Špunar and senior Gibson Homer are coming off of outstanding performances in Omaha.
Špunar stopped 22 of 24 in a 7-2 UND win last Friday, improving to 3-0 on the season. Homer stopped 34 of 35 on Saturday in a 4-1 Fighting Hawks victory.
“It’s been great,” UND associate head coach Matt Smaby said. “I think every team wants a couple guys that are feeling good in the net and I feel like we have that. Jan has jumped in and played really well. Gibby played really well last game, and frankly, has played quite well with some poor team efforts in front of him.”
Both players have given the coaching staff reason to split goaltender starts again for UND’s series against Arizona State at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
“I think we feel like we’re in a great spot with both of those guys and confident with whoever takes the net,” Smaby said.
The weekend could be an emotional one for Homer.
He spent the last three years at Arizona State.
Homer did not play as a freshman. He went 8-3-2 with a .931 save percentage as a sophomore. Last season, he went 8-5-2 with a .919 save percentage, helping the Sun Devils to a second-place finish in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.
After the season ended, Homer entered the transfer portal and was recruited by UND.
Arizona State brought in freshman Samuel Urban from the United States Hockey League and transfer Connor Hasley from Bentley, where his roommate last year was Grand Forks Central graduate Tucker Hodgson.
Hasley posted 11 shutouts last season and led Bentley to its first NCAA tournament appearance.
“We knew we had two really good goalies coming in, and Gibby could have come back,” Arizona State coach Greg Powers said. “We have no ill will toward Gibby. He wanted to go get a fresh start somewhere else and we’re happy for him. I’ll always cheer for kids like him. . . as long as we’re not playing him. Any time I can see a game with him in net, I’m cheering for him. He’s a good, good kid. He’s a great human being. We know how good he can be when he’s hot.”
UND has had three transfer goalies play against their old teams.
Zach Driscoll played against Bemidji State. Ludvig Persson played against Miami. And T.J. Semptimphelter played against Arizona State last season in Tempe (ironically, against Homer).
Homer and Arizona State beat Semptimphelter and UND 4-1 last January. In the series finale, both teams switched goalies.
Powers said he wasn’t sure that playing his former goalies gives the Sun Devils any sort of scouting advantage.
“We know where we think we can expose everybody that we play through prescouting and video,” Powers said. “So, it’s really no different. Maybe a little bit more than others because we’ve seen him play so much, but we also know how good he can be when he’s on and he’s playing on top of his game. He’s a really, really tough goalie to beat.”
UNDASU7-3Rec3-6-13.9 (5th)Off2.9 (34th)2.4 (17th)Def3.6 (46th)27.3 (11th)PP21.4 (20th)75.9 (33rd)PK81.0 (30th)52.4 (19th)FO53.5 (12th).898 (38th)SP.899 (34th)
Note: National rank in parentheses. Categories are record, offense (goals per game), defense (goals against per game), power play percentage, penalty kill percentage, faceoff percentage and team save percentage.
UND — F Josh Zakreski out (lower body), F Jack Kernan questionable (undisclosed)
Arizona State — None known
Arizona State player to watch: F Cruz Lucius
Arizona State has a dangerous top two lines, but nobody is quite as dangerous as Lucius, a senior winger from Grant, Minn. Lucius sees the ice exceptionally well. Any time opponents are out of lanes, he exposes it, similarly to Minnesota Duluth’s Max Plante. He’s a threat to shoot and is terrific at changing angles of his shot at the last minute. He has put 48 shots on net — second-most in the NCHC — and has tallied eight goals and 12 points.
Lucius makes plays out of nowhere, especially on the power play, where he controls the five-forward top unit from the right flank. Lucius is Arizona State’s leader with five power-play goals, but he’s also always looking to feed Jack Beck in the bumper or Cullen Potter on the opposite flank.
Arizona State forward Cruz Lucius warms up before an exhibition against the U.S. Under-18 Team. Lucius did not play in the game.
Sun Devil athletics
UND’s pick to click: F Dylan James
UND needs to play fast and physical against a young Arizona State defensive corps. Who does that better than Dylan James? The UND senior winger has a knack for beating defensemen wide and taking pucks to the net. Doing so this weekend will be key for the Fighting Hawks.
Arizona State has one senior on defense, Tucker Ness, the younger brother of former UND alternate captain Griffin Ness. Tucker has only played 11 minutes this season, though, and Arizona State’s only other upperclassman on the back end is 5-foot-7 junior puck-mover Anthony Dowd.
“They’re a good team,” James said, “highly offensive up front. It’s their first time coming to The Ralph, too. I’m sure they’re excited. I know a lot of teams are excited to come to The Ralph. They’ll have a lot of energy. We have to match it and exceed it.”
UND forward Dylan James fights for position with Clarkson’s Erik Bargholtz on Oct. 24, 2025, in Cheel Arena in Potsdam, N.Y.
Leighton Chamblee / UND athletics
The call: A four-point weekend
UND has played a big top line in Minnesota Duluth’s Max Plante, Zam Plante and Jayson Shaugabay. But Arizona State might have the most dynamic top-six forwards that UND has played to date. It will be a good challenge for UND’s team defense and goaltenders.
Friday: Arizona State 4, UND 3, OT
Saturday: UND 4, Arizona State 2
TV: Midco Sports (GF Ch. 27/622 HD). Clay Matvick play-by-play, Jim Scanlan analyst, Taylor Budge and Dean Barsness at the desk.
Stream:
NCHChockey.com.
Radio:
The Fox (96.1 FM) and iHeart.
Tim Hennessy play-by-play, Mike LaMoine analyst.
Of note: TSN5 in Canada will carry Friday’s series opener.
GFH:
Clay Matvick to call this weekend’s games
GFH:
Arizona State’s North Dakotans return to their home state
GFH:
Q&A with UND defenseman Abram Wiebe
GFH:
E.J. Emery expands game as a sophomore
GFH:
Arizona State making first trip to The Ralph
GFH:
Abram Wiebe to play in Spengler Cup
GFH:
Shane Pinto signs 4-year, $30-million deal with Ottawa
GFH:
Cole Reschny showing value on both sides of ice
Scoring
21 Ben Strinden (NSH), sr, f, 4-8—12
7 Mac Swanson (PIT), so, f, 4-6—10
17 Cole Reschny (CGY), fr, f, 2-8—10
9 Will Zellers (BOS), fr, f, 5-4—9
26 Dylan James (DET), sr, f, 6-2—8
25 Abram Wiebe (VGK), jr, d, 2-6—8
4 Jake Livanavage, jr, d, 1-7—8
18 Keaton Verhoeff (2026), fr, d, 4-2—6
8 Ollie Josephson (SEA), fr, f, 2-4—6
29 Ellis Rickwood, sr, f, 1-5—6
19 Cody Croal, so, f, 2-3—5
6 E.J. Emery (NYR), so, d, 2-1—3
20 Cade Littler (CGY), so, f, 1-2—3
15 Jack Kernan, fr, f, 1-2—3
24 Josh Zakreski, fr, f, 1-2—3
2 Bennett Zmolek, sr, d, 0-2—2
13 Sam Laurila (NYI), fr, d, 0-2—2
27 Anthony Menghini, jr, f, 1-0—1
16 Andrew Strathmann (CBJ), so, d, 0-1—1
22 David Klee (SJS), fr, f, 0-1—1
3 Jayden Jubenvill, so, d, 0-1—1
14 Tyler Young, sr, f, 0-0—0
31 Gibson Homer, sr, g, 0-0—0
35 Jan Špunar, fr, g, 0-0—0
28 Dalton Andrew, so, f, dnp
11 Ian Engel, fr, d, dnp
1 Zach Sandy, sr, g, dnp
Goaltending
31 Gibson Homer, sr, 4-3, 2.74, .890
35 Jan Špunar, fr, 3-0, 1.01, .951
1 Zach Sandy, sr, dnp
Scoring
23 Bennett Schimek, sr, f, 4-9—13
51 Cruz Lucius (CAR), sr, f, 8-4—12
16 Sean McGurn, jr, f, 2-4—6
12 Cullen Potter (CGY), so, f, 1-5—6
2 Jack Beck, so, f, 3-2—5
25 Kyle Smolen, jr, f, 1-4—5
19 Logan Morrell, so, f, 2-2—4
27 Samuel Alfano, fr, f, 2-2—4
17 Johnny Waldron, sr, f, 0-4—4
9 Anthony Dowd, jr, d, 0-4—4
48 Benjamin Kevan (NJD), fr, f, 3-0—3
3 Justin Kipkie (MIN), fr, d, 0-3—3
7 Joel Kjellberg, jr, d, 0-3—3
37 Sam Court, so, d, 0-3—3
22 Ty Nash, fr, f, 1-1—2
14 Carmelo Crandell, fr, f, 1-1—2
15 Noah Powell (PHI), so, f, 1-0—1
74 Braser Boser, so, d, 0-1—1
5 Richard Baran, fr, d, 0-1—1
31 Samuel Urban, fr, g, 0-1—1
11 Lincoln Kuehne (2026), fr, d, 0-0—0
24 Justin Cloutier, fr, f, 0-0—0
4 Austin Zemlak, fr, d, 0-0—0
10 Tucker Ness, sr, f-d, 0-0—0
49 Braxton Whitehead, fr, f, 0-0—0
33 Connor Hasley, sr, g, 0-0—0
89 Tony Achille, jr, f, dnp
13 Hunter Mullett, so, d, dnp
30 Chase Hamm, jr, g, dnp
Goaltending
33 Connor Hasley, sr, 2-4, 3.09, .910
31 Samuel Urban, fr, 1-2-1, 2.89, .921
30 Chase Hamm, jr, dnp
