UMass claims national title
Dominates St. Cloud State to win first Frozen Four
The full transformation of UMass from a Hockey East nonentity to dominant national program was realized on Saturday night in Pittsburgh.
UMASS ST. CLOUD STATE 5 0
The Minutemen got goals from five different skaters while goaltender Filip Lindberg (25 saves) secured his third postseason shutout with a 5-0 victory over St. Cloud State in the Frozen Four title game at PPG Paints Arena.
UMass (20-5-4) captured its first national hockey championship while completing its third straight season with 20 or more wins under fifth-year head coach
Greg Carvel. Right wing Bobby Trivigno was named the Tournament’s Outstanding Player while defenseman Zac Jones and Matthew Kessel and Lindberg were named to the AllTournament team.
“(Carvel) deserves a lot of credit, he built this program from the ground up,” said Trivigno. “The amount of work he puts in behind the scenes recruiting players, pre-scout, making sure all the players are ready to play and he’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever played for.”
Lindberg only allowed four goals in five previous postseason games, but was forced to watch Matt Murray backbone the Minutemen’s dramatic 3-2 overtime win over reigning champion Minnesota-Duluth in Thursday’s semifinal.
Lindberg, along with leading goal scorer Carson Gicewicz, were in the university’s COVID 19 tracking protocol since April 2 and both were cleared to play less than 12 hours before the puck dropped.
“The day I found out, that probably one of the worst days I’ve had,” said Lindberg. “It was a nightmare, but obviously there was nothing we could have done about that but I’m so thankful for the opportunity to play here.”
UMass gave up a 2-on-1 break 90 seconds into the game but had puck luck on its side. St. Clous State left wing Veeti Miettinen broke inside the right circle and his wrister clanged off the crossbar behind Lindberg. Both Lindberg and Miettinen are from Espoo, Finland.
“It was the one chance, but I hit the crossbar and that it,” said Miettinen. “It didn’t go in so it doesn’t matter.”
UMass was back on its heels when a two-on-none break materialized on a freak play. Two Huskies collided at the Minutemen blue line springing UMass defenseman Aaron Bohlinger and right wing Ryan Sullivan on a dash up the ice.
Bohlinger fed Sullivan who closed on St. Cloud State goalie David Hrenak, forcing him to commit to the puck carrier. Sullivan slipped it back to Bohlinger, who flicked it into the exposed half of the cage for his first career goal at 7:26.
UMass had a scare at 13:53 when Huskies defenseman Nick Perbix angled toward the UMass goal with Bohlinger attached at the hip. Perbix violently bowled over Lindberg and took out the goal in the process.
UMass went up 2-0 with 1:04 to play in the first. Sophomore Cal Kiefiuk made a hard rush down the left wall, circle the cage and forced Hrenak to protect the post against a wraparound. Kiefiuk sent it across the crease to Reed Lebster who poked in his second goal of the season.
St. Cloud State had 47 seconds left on a power play when UMass center Philip Lagunov scored shorthanded at 5:10 of the second. Lagunov collected a clearing pass off the wall, undressed Perbix with a crossover switch and backhanded it 5-hole for his fourth of the season.
“It happened really fast, I kind of blacked out,” said Lagunov. “The guy was diving down before me so I used my space to try and beat him but it all happened really fast.”
UMass went up 4-0 on the power play at 13:45 by the first unit. Jake Gaudet was at the crease when he dropped it to Oliver Chau who relayed it to Matt Kessel on the right point. Kessel, a St. Louis Blues draft pick, launched a heavy shot through a screen that went under the crossbar for his 10th of the season.
Bobby Trivigno, the MVP of the Hockey East Tournament, made it 5-0 at 6:00 of the third.