5 things you might have missed from UND's 2-0 win over St. Thomas

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

The Details

ST. PAUL, Minn. — UND beat St. Thomas

2-0 with a third consecutive strong defensive effort

Friday night in Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.

Here are five things you may have missed.

UND defenseman Carson Carels did not finish the series opener.

Carels sustained a big hit in the offensive zone from St. Thomas defenseman Cole Miller with 15:22 left in the third period. Carels got up and played the rest of the shift, skating off on his own power.

Carels stayed on the bench for the rest of the game but did not play another shift.

There was no immediate update on Carels' condition.

Carels, the No. 6 overall pick by the Calgary Flames in last summer's NHL Draft, entered the weekend as UND's time-on-ice leader. He has four assists in 10 games.

St. Thomas also finished the game down a defenseman.

Tommies senior Nick Williams left the game with an injury. No update was available on Williams after the game either.

2. Defensemen rise up

UND defenseman E.J. Emery was called for two third-period penalties after Carels exited the game.

That meant the Fighting Hawks had to kill them off without two of their best penalty killers.

UND sophomore Keaton Verhoeff was asked to do some heavy lifting on the first one — and Verhoeff delivered.

"We always say, to play penalty kill, you've got to earn trust on 5-on-5 shifts," Jackson said. "He's taken a step there. You want to reward guys when they're trying to play the right way."

Nick Wosika / St. Thomas athletics

Freshman Garrett Lindberg closed out the game, playing the last minute-plus at 4-on-6.

"You know what you're going to get," Jackson said. "He's reliable. He makes good reads and he's a hard guy to play against. For a young guy, he takes a lot of pride in his role. He's a guy who has built trust in the coaches to put him out in those critical scenarios."

3. Špunar not a fan of trapezoid

UND goaltender Jan Špunar posted his seventh collegiate shutout by stopping all 19 St. Thomas shots.

He's also starting to appear much more comfortable dealing with the new trapezoid behind the net, even if he won't admit it.

College goaltenders are no longer allowed to play the puck in the corners behind the end line, a rules change that went into effect over the summer.

"It's pretty bad still," Špunar said of his puck play around the trapezoid. "I'm still getting used to it. I'm still trying to play a puck, but sometimes, I can't."

It's not Špunar's first time dealing with the trapezoid rule. When he played for Portland in the Western Hockey League from 2022-24, the WHL had that rule.

"I didn't play the puck much at that point," Špunar said.

He did not have to deal with it in 2024-25 with Dubuque in the United States Hockey League or last year as an NCAA freshman.

"I got used to it last year," Špunar said. "It's hard for me now when I can't play the puck there. It's annoying, but there's nothing I can do about it."

Nick Wosika / St. Thomas athletics

4. Blasi's thoughts on the game

St. Thomas head coach Rico Blasi was asked what his team needs to do to get a split in the series finale at 7 p.m. Saturday.

"Our work habits have to be the same," Blasi said. "The effort needs to be equal to what we did tonight, if not better. And we've got to pay attention to details. The little details of a game will kill you in this conference. It's the difference."

Blasi lamented defenders not tying up sticks on UND's goals, as well as not finishing plays on the offensive end.

"You've got to make plays that are there," Blasi said. "We were there; we just didn't make them. And they've got good sticks, and they reload really well because they can skate."

Blasi praised both St. Thomas goaltender Will Ingemann (29 saves) and Špunar.

"Will did whatever he had to do to keep us in it," Blasi said. "Their guy made some big saves, too."

Nick Wosika / St. Thomas athletics

5. UND gives Twin Cities fans a 'W'

Outside of the packed St. Thomas student section — a standing-room-only area behind the net the Tommies attack twice — there was a lot of green in Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.

It included fans who traveled from Grand Forks and UND alums who live in the Twin Cities.

"Last time we were here in the Cities, it didn't go our way and we were pretty mad about that," said Zellers, referring to UND's losses to rival Minnesota in October.

St. Thomas' students never got into the game.

The Tommies were shut out for just the second time in 25 games in Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, which opened Oct. 24, 2025.

"I thought our student body was great," Blasi said. "We need more of that. We need our guys to feed off their energy."

• Nick Wosika / St. Thomas athletics
• Comments
• Share this article
• News Reporting
• News Reporting

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

What is this?

• Tags
• Tags
• NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS
• UND SPORTS
• UND FIGHTING HAWKS HOCKEY
• SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
• By
• Brad Elliott Schlossman

Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald's circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at [email protected].

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Listen to this article
• Conversation
• What To Read Next
• Subscribers Only
• UND Hockey

UND shuts out St. Thomas with third straight defensive performance 3h ago By Brad Elliott Schlossman College UND men's basketball delays home opener due to nationwide grounding of air traffic 3h ago By Herald Sports Desk Subscribers Only UND Hockey Live updates: No. 8 UND at St. Thomas 12h ago By Brad Elliott Schlossman Get Local Must Reads Community Today in History: Nov. 14, 1950 - Grafton Deaconess hospital building new addition 1h ago By Staff reports Prep Friday's local scoreboard for Nov. 13 3h ago By Tom Miller Local UND working on tribal consultation policy 12h ago By Delaney Otto Prep Harvey-Wells County spoils Langdon Area-Munich's Dakota Bowl repeat bid with early strikes 12h ago By Maxwell Marko