UND's Jan Špunar outduels red-hot Max Lundgren in NCAA opener
· Yahoo Sports
Mar. 27—SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A freshman goaltender hasn't won an NCAA tournament game at UND in over a decade.
The last time a Fighting Hawks freshman had a shutout in the tournament was in 2004.
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But Jan Špunar, NCHC Goaltender of the Year, has made a habit of breaking long-standing droughts this season.
The star freshman continued to do just that Thursday evening at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
Špunar made 31 saves and shut out Merrimack in a 3-0 victory to send the Hawks into the NCAA tournament regional finals.
"That's just Jan," sophomore forward Cody Croal said. "Just playing his game, standing on his head. It's been like that all year. In the playoffs, you need a goalie like that. He bailed us out quite a few times when we got hemmed in our D-zone."
In his last appearance, Špunar gave up five goals against Minnesota Duluth in the NCHC tournament semifinals.
That showing was a bit of an aberration, though: he's given up more than three goals just twice this season.
"Unbelievable goalie," senior forward Dylan James said. "He's been our backbone this whole year, such a humble dude. All the guys just love him, and we're so proud of him, so hopefully he can keep going."
Head coach Dane Jackson was also quick to point out that Špunar didn't get much help up front against the Bulldogs.
"Tonight we did a much better job of limiting some of those Grade-A chances," Jackson said. "Even the game against Duluth, I only thought there was one goal that maybe he would want back. I think it kind of goes to the idea of when we play a strong game in front of him, he seems to rarely let bad goals in. He just makes all the saves that he should if he can get a beat on him and see him, he's stopping him. I thought it was an outstanding response by him."
On the other side of the ice was a red-hot goaltender with an impressive resume.
Junior goaltender Max Lundgren played a pivotal role in Merrimack's Hockey East tournament run, posting 49 saves in a 2-1 championship victory over UConn.
Lundgren made 25 saves against UND and allowed two goals, keeping the Warriors within striking distance until Croal's empty-net strike with 44 seconds remaining.
"Hats off to him," junior defenseman Abram Wiebe said. "I thought he played a great game tonight and made a lot of huge saves to keep them in the game. Obviously, sometimes it gets frustrating when you're getting lots of looks and nothing's going in, but I thought we did a good job of just being consistent and sticking with it, and we got some big ones at the end."
Špunar's performance was essential in what was a one-goal game through two periods.
Croal scored less than four minutes into the first period, but UND didn't score again until the third.
The Hawks were outshot 14-4 in the third period. Merrimack made Špunar work for his shutout until the final horn, highlighted by a Grade-A, point-blank shot that clanked off his facemask.
"After that last game against UMD, we kind of put him in a tough spot overall," freshman forward Will Zellers said. "So for him to come out like that with so much confidence, it just gives us a bunch of confidence. Having him back there, knowing he's got us back there when he's so calm. You never see him making a bad play out there. He's always so calm, no matter where he is."
Špunar will enter Saturday's NCAA tournament regional final against Quinnipiac with five shutouts, a 1.98 goals against average and a .914 save percentage on the season.
"It's good to have him as a rock back there," senior forward Ellis Rickwood said. "He's just so calm, and it's just a nice presence to have."