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University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Minnesota Duluth
Massachusetts Hockey Set For Frozen Four Rematch With Minnesota Duluth
April 06, 2021 | Hockey
The Minutemen will face the Bulldogs on Thursday at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
| University of Massachusetts Hockey Game Notes | |
| Game 28 | #6/2 Massachusetts Minutemen (18-5-4) vs. #9/5 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (15-10-2) |
| Date | Time | April 8, 2021 - 9:00 p.m. |
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pa. (PPG Paints Arena) |
| Series History | Minnesota Duluth leads 1-0-0 |
| Live Statistics | NCAA Live Stats |
| Watch Live | ESPN2 |
| Listen (Radio) | WHMP AM 1400/1240 FM 101.5/107.5 |
| Listen (Online) | WHMP Streaming Player | TuneIn App (mobile devices) |
| Game Notes | Massachusetts | Minnesota Duluth |
| Team Records | Massachusetts | Minnesota Duluth |
| @UMassHockey | @UMassAthletics | |
| UMass Hockey | UMass Athletics | |
Last Time Out: #6/5 Massachusetts Hockey Blanks #14/15 Bemidji State 4-0 In NCAA East Regional Final To Advance To Frozen Four
- Redshirt senior Carson Gicewicz recorded the first NCAA Tournament hat trick since 2017 to lead #6/5 Massachusetts hockey back to the Frozen Four with a 4-0 shutout of Bemidji State in the NCAA East Regional Final at Webster Bank Arena on March 27. It marks the second straight regional title for the Minutemen, who won the 2019 Northeast Regional Championship to earn their first-ever Frozen Four berth.
- With the second of two penalties that gave the Beavers a 5-on-3 midway through the first about to expire, freshman Aaron Bohlinger's outlet pass sent Gicewicz and senior Oliver Chau off to the races on a shorthanded odd-man rush. Gicewicz shoveled home the give-and-go from Chau to put UMass on the board 14:24 into the first period.
- Gicewicz then added his second of the night in the final minute of the opening stanza, redirecting in Matthew Kessel's shot from the point at the net front.
- At the 6:34 mark of the second period, Gicewicz completed his hat trick, which was the first in the NCAA Tournament since Denver's Jarid Lukosevicius scored three in the 2017 National Championship Game. Senior Jake Gaudet collected the puck from junior Marc Del Gaizo and drove to the net where Gicewicz was positioned at the top of the crease to slide the puck under goaltender Zach Driscoll.
- Chau later capped the scoring with an empty net goal at 16:56 of the third period for his second point of the contest, while Del Gaizo picked up his second assist for a multi-point performance, as well.
- UMass out-shot Bemidji State, 28-18 in the contest and went 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Beavers were 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
- Junior goaltender Filip Lindberg (9-1-4) made 18 saves in his third career shutout in the NCAA Tournament, tying a record previously set by Boston College's Cory Schneider (2006-07). Driscoll totaled 24 saves for Bemidji State.
- Lindberg was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Bridgeport regional and was named to the All-Region Team along with Gicewicz and Del Gaizo.
Massachusetts Hockey In The NCAA Tournament
- The Minutemen are making their second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, third overall and first as the automatic qualifier as 2021 Hockey East Tournament Champions.
- UMass made a historic run through the 2019 NCAA Tournament, winning the Northeast Regional Championship with a pair of 4-0 victories over Harvard and Notre Dame and opening its first Frozen Four appearance with a 4-3 overtime thriller over Denver before falling to Minnesota Duluth, 3-0, in the National Championship game.
- The Minutemen's first NCAA appearance came back in 2007, which opened with a 1-0 win over Clarkson in Rochester, New York. UMass saw its run stopped in the East Regional final that season with a 3-1 loss to Maine.
- Massachusetts is 6-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, 3-0 all-time in first round matchups, 2-1 in regional finals, 1-0 in national semifinals and 0-1 national championships.
How It Started, How It's Going
- The Minutemen have posted a 10-2-2 record against ranked teams this season have an active 12-game unbeaten streak (9-0-3), the longest unbeaten streak in school history.
- Three UMass' five losses this season have been one-goal games, with just four regulation losses on the year. Three of five losses came prior to December 7 when the Minutemen were without the services of veteran defensemen Marc Del Gaizo and Ty Farmer for the November 27-28 setbacks to Boston College due to injuries. UMass is 16-2-3 since December 7, the fewest losses of any team from that date on, second in winning percentage (.833) over that span to only Minnesota State's 21-3-1 (.833).
- UMass has won 12 games where the margin was three goals or more, compared to one loss (the 6-3 loss to Boston College on Nov. 28).
- The Minutemen have allowed one goal or less in 55.6% of its games this season (15 occasions in 27 games) and two or fewer goals in 19 of 27 games.
UMass Collects Host Of Postseason Awards from Hockey East
- Five University of Massachusetts hockey student-athletes were named Hockey East All-Stars, the league announced on March12. Junior forward Bobby Trivigno earned his first career honor as a First Team All-Star, while junior goaltender Filip Lindberg and sophomore defenseman Zac Jones were tabbed Second Team All-Stars and junior defenseman Marc Del Gaizo and sophomore defenseman Matthew Kessel received Third Team All-Star nods.
- It marked the second highest total of league all-stars in program history, trailing only 2018-19's total of six.
- Lindberg became just the second UMass goaltender to garner a Hockey East All-Star selection, joining Jonathan Quick who earned a spot on the second team in 2006-07.
- Del Gaizo is a third team Hockey East All-Star for the second time in his career after first collecting the award as a freshman in 2018-19.
- Jones and Kessel both earned their first career accolades. Jones was an all-rookie honoree last season as a freshman.
- Freshman Josh Lopina was named the Co-Hockey East Rookie of the Year and to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. He is the first player in program history to earn a Rookie of the Year nod and the fifth Minuteman to earn an all-rookie accolade during head Coach Greg Carvel's tenure, joining Jones (2019-20), Del Gaizo (2018-19),
Mario Ferarro (2017-18) and Cale Makar (2017-18).
- As a team the Minutemen took home the 2020-21 Charlie Holt Team Sportsmanship Award. Established in 1992, the Charles E. Holt Sportsmanship Award, named after the former University of New Hampshire head coach, is given to the team which receives the lowest average penalty minutes per-game over the course of regular season Hockey East play. The Minutemen have garnered the award for the third time in program history, previously receiving the distinction in 2001-02 (11.8 PIM/gm) and 2006-07 (10.8 PIM/gm).
- During the 2020-21 regular season, UMass averaged a league-low 9.5 penalty minutes per-game over 22 contests. The Minutemen had a league-high 174 penalty minutes through the first 15 games (11.6 PIM/gm), but took just 18 penalties over the final seven games of the regular season, a 5.14 PIM/gm average, 3.16 less than any other team in the league from January 22 to the conclusion of the regular season.
Trivigno Named Recipient Of 69th Walter Brown Award
- UMass junior assistant captain Bobby Trivigno has been named the recipient of the 69th Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England, the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston announced on March 22.
- Trivigno, a forward from Setauket, New York, is the first-ever UMass player to earn the honor.
- Trivigno helped UMass to its first Hockey East Tournament Championship, leading the squad with six points over three tournament games on two goals and four assists and was +6, to garner Tournament MVP recognition along with a spot on the Steve Nazro Hockey East All-Tournament Team.
- The 2021 Hockey East First-Team All-Star leads the Minutemen in scoring to date with 10 goals and 21 assists for 31 points. He is currently tied for 11th nationally in points and points per-game (1.15), tied for eighth in assists and 10th in assists per-game (0.78).
- Of the 16 forwards and defensemen among the 19 semifinalists for this year's Walter Brown Award, he had the highest plus-minus rating, with +17. Trivigno has three game winners, one power-play goal and one shorthanded tally through 27 contests.
Lindberg Rakes In Hockey East Honors
- After stellar weekends against #18 Providence and #16 UMass Lowell, junior goaltender Filip Lindberg collected Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week back-to-back weeks to end the month of January. He was then tabbed the Hockey East Goaltender of the Month for January on February 4.
- Lindberg started four of nine games for UMass in January and went 2-0-2 with a shootout win and a shootout loss, all against ranked foes.
- He posted the best goals-against average (0.48) and save percentage (.980) in the nation in January, letting up just two goals on 98 shots over 250 minutes of action and logged two shutouts last month to lead the league.
- The Espoo, Finland native did not allow more than one goal in any of his four starts. In back-to-back overtime games against #18 Providence, Lindberg allowed just one goal in 130:00 of work and secured a shootout win for the Minutemen, denying each of the Friars' five shot attempts.
- He posted his second shutout of the month with 16 saves in a 5-0 win over #16 UMass Lowell and followed up with 28 stops in a 2-1 victory against the River Hawks in Lowell, UMass' first win in the Tsongas Center since 2011.
- Lindberg then repeated as Hockey East Goaltender of the Month for February after going 2-0-0 last month with a pair of road wins against ranked opponents.
- He stopped 59 of 62 shots for a .952 save percentage and a 1.44 goals-against average in the month of February.
- The Espoo, Finland native made 30 saves in an 8-1 win at #14 Providence and followed up with a 29 save performance in a 3-2 victory at #1/2 Boston College.
- Lindberg picked up his third Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honor on March 22 after he made 16 saves and collected his ninth career shutout, 1-0, in the Hockey East Championship game against the River Hawks. He had 20 stops in the 5-2 semifinal win over the Friars for a 2-0-0 record, a 1.00 goals against average and a .947 save percentage on the week.
- Lindberg earned yet another Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week nod on March 29 after he was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Bridgeport Regional for posting a 0.50 goals-against average and a .980 save percentage over the two contests, making a total of 48 stops. He picked up his third career NCAA Tournament shutout with 18 saves against Bemidji State in the Regional Championship game, tying an NCAA record previously set by Boston College's Cory Schneider (2006-07).
- He is now 9-0-3 since returning from injury in mid-January with a .959 save percentage and a 0.98 GAA during that span.
- Currently Lindberg leads the nation with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage. He is tied for fourth in winning percentage (.786) and tied for fourth in shutouts (4).
Strictly Numbers
- Sophomore Matthew Kessel leads all defensemen nationally in goals (9) goals per-game (0.33), and power-play goals (5). He is tied for seventh in points (21) and 12th in points per-game (0.78) by defensemen.
- Sophomore Zac Jones is tied for second nationally in goals by defensemen (8), sixth in goals per-game by defensemen (0.30), tied for third points by defensemen (23) and seventh in points-per game (0.85) by defensemen.
- Redshirt senior Carson Gicewicz is fourth nationally in goals per-game (0.63) and fourth in goals (17).
- Freshman Josh Lopina is tied for seventh nationally in points among freshmen (21), 13th nationally in points per-game among freshmen (0.78), tied for ninth in goals (9), tied for 12th in goals per-game (.33) and tied for 12th in assists (12).
- Over six career NCAA Tournament games, Filip Lindberg is 5-1 with a 1.12 goals against average and a .953 save percentage with three shutouts. This postseason (Hockey East and NCAA Tournament), Lindberg holds a 0.80 GAA, a .965 save percentage, 5-0 record and two shutouts.
- UMass has the top four scorers on the career list for NCAA Tournament games: Jake Gaudet (6gp, 3g,4a), Oliver Chau (6gp, 2g, 4a), Marc Del Gaizo (6gp, 1g, 4a) and Carson Gicewicz (2gp, 4g, 0a).
Special Teams Success
- Heading into the Frozen Four, UMass' penalty kill ranks second in the nation (91.4%), first in Hockey East, and its power play sits 13th nation-ally (22.3%) while the squad is tied for fourth in the nation in shorthanded goals with four. The Minutemen lead the nation in combined special teams at 57.2%. UMass is a net +16 on special teams this season, tops in Hockey East.
- To date, 27 of the team's 95 goals have come in special teams situations, 28.4% of the squad's scoring.
- UMass has 23 power-play goals through 27 games, compared to 16 in 34 games in 2019-20 and is tied for seventh in the nation in power-play goals.
Quick Draw
- One of the Minutemen's biggest strengths thus far has been the team's success over the faceoff dots. Entering the Frozen Four, UMass is sixth nationally with a 53.8% faceoff percentage, 893 of 1660.
- Josh Lopina ranks 11th nationally in faceoffs wins (286), 75 more than the next closest rookie.
Immediate Impact
- UMass' newcomers have combined for 86 of the team's 255 points through 27 games or 33.7% of the scoring. Five newcomers have provided a combined for 38 of UMass' total of 95 goals or 40%.
- Three of the team's top seven point providers through 27 games are new additions to the Minutemen roster for 2020-21 with redshirt senior Carson Gicewicz leading the team in goals (17), third on the team in points (24), while freshman Josh Lopina also has 21 points to date (9g, 12a) and junior Garrett Wait follows with 16 points (8g, 8a).
And The Beat Goes On
- From current NHLers 2019 Hobey Baker winner, 2020 Calder Trophy winner Cale Makar and 2019 Hockey East All-Star Mario Ferraro, UMass' hallmark has been its talent on the blueline during head coach Greg Carvel's tenure.
- UMass' defensemen scored 21 goals last season, which ranked eighth nationally, while the squad's 90 points by defensemen ranked ninth. Minutemen blueliners averaged 12.06 shots per-game, which led the nation in 2019-20.
- Individually, Matt Kessel led all rookie defensemen nationally last season with seven goals and is UMass' top returning goal scorer from the blueline for 2020-21. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft (150th overall) by the St. Louis Blues last fall. He is one of three draft picks patrolling the UMass blueline this season along with 2019 New York Rangers third round pick Zac Jones (68th overall) and 2019 Nashville Predators fourth round pick Marc Del Gaizo (109th overall).
- Jones, a Hockey East All-Rookie Team selection in 2019-20 is UMass' top returning point scorer (23 points). He was the top scoring rookie defenseman in Hockey East last season, Jones finished the year 16th in the nation in freshman scoring at .72 points per-game, third for the Minutemen overall with three goals and 20 assists and was +12 on the year. The two-time Hockey East Rookie of the Week became the first UMass defenseman during the program's Division I era to post 20 assists in his rookie season.
- As a team, UMass was sixth in the nation in scoring defense (1.97) in 2019-20 after ranking seventh (2.02) the season prior. The 2019-20 squad set a program record for the fewest goals allowed in a season, 67.
- Through 27 games this season, the Minutemen blueliners lead the nation in points per-game (3.11), goals per-game (.85) by defensemen and points (84), second in goals (23), tied for second in power-play goals (7), third in shots on goal per-game (11.11), third in power-play points (25), fourth in assists (61) and sixth in power-play assists (18).
- The Minutemen currently rank second in the nation in scoring defense at 1.70 goals per-game.
Home Is Where The Wins Are
- UMass is 45-9-3 in its last 57 games at the Mullins Center and went 29-5-1 over the previous two seasons (2018-19 and 2019-20) for an .842 winning percentage. This stretch included a 16-game unbeaten streak (15-0-1) began on Jan. 11, 2019 against Vermont and came to an end on Nov. 30, 2019 with a 2-1 loss to Quinnipiac. UMass went 11-2-2 at home this season, tying for first in the nation for home victories and finishing sixth in home winning percentage at .800.
- The Minutemen's home winning percentage the last two years ranked second nationally behind only Minnesota State's .918. UMass' home wins total from October 2018 to March 2020 was good for third nationally, trailing only Minnesota State (39) and North Dakota (30).
Name A More Iconic Duo
- The Minutemen have returned arguably one of the most experienced goaltending tandems in the country in junior Filip Lindberg and senior Matt Murray. Both finished the 2019-20 campaign among the NCAA leaders, including both ranking in the top 10 nationally in goals-against average (Murray seventh, Lindberg eighth), while Murray finished 10th in winning percentage (13-6-0, .684) and Lindberg ranked 15th in the nation in save percentage (.927) last season.
- Murray was the NCAA statistical champion for winning percentage in 2018-19 with a record of 20-5-0, a mark that also surpassed a program record for wins previously held by former Minuteman and NHL veteran Jonathan Quick.
- Lindberg, who started all four of UMass' NCAA Tournament games in 2018-19, ended his freshman campaign second in the nation with a 1.60 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage. The Espoo, Finland native ended his rookie season fourth nationally in winning percentage (.733) with a record of 11-4-0 and tied for 10th nationally in shutouts with four.
- As a freshman in 2018-19, Lindberg set a new program single-season record for goals-against average and tied Murray's record for single-season shutouts. His save percentage was the highest by a UMass netminder since 1969-70, second all-time.
- Murray and Lindberg tied the program's shutout record (5) from 1913-14 in 2018-19.
- Lindberg is currently the program's all-time career leader in save percentage (.935) and goals-against average (1.62), while Murray ranks third (.915) in save percentage and second in goals-against average (2.21) in school history. Murray is also the program all-time leader in career wins (51) and shutouts (11), while Lindberg ranks second in career shutouts with 10.
- Murray entered the season tied for fourth among active NCAA netminders in shutouts, ninth in saves (1,527) and fourth in wins.
Watch Out For Marc Del Gaizo
- While many know Marc Del Gaizo for scoring the overtime game winner that sent UMass into the 2019 National Championship game, that was merely the exclamation point on one of the best rookie seasons by a Minuteman defenseman in program history.
- Del Gaizo received Hockey East Third Team All-Star and Hockey East All-Rookie Team accolades and earned an All-CHN Rookie Team nod, as well.
- One of seven Minutemen to see action in all 41 games, Del Gaizo ranked 17th in the nation for points per-game by a freshman (0.71), and third in Hockey East with 29 points on 13 goals and 16 assists.
- The Basking Ridge, New Jersey native tied for third in the nation in plus minus at +31, tied for ninth in Hockey East in power-play points (14), power-play goals (6) and ranked fourth in defenseman scoring.
- Del Gaizo was the first rookie defenseman in Hockey East history to score 10 goals in league play, which tied for fifth overall on the Hockey East list for goals by a defenseman in a single season all-time.
- Though hampered with injuries through much of the first half of the 2019-20 season, the now junior assistant captain still managed to put up 15 points in 22 games last season on four goals and 11 assists and was +9.
- Del Gaizo is currently the program's all-time leader in career plus-minus at +59.
Top Of The Charts
- UMass entered the 2019-20 season ranked No. 4 in the USCHO.com poll and No. 5 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll, which was the first time the Minutemen opened a season ranked in either poll. Thus far in 2020-21, the Minutemen have been ranked in the top-15 every week. The squad has been nationally ranked in 68 straight poll weeks since October 22, 2018 after previously not being ranked in either poll since February 2010.
- History was made on Dec. 3, 2018 as the Minutemen earned their first No. 1 national ranking in program history, sitting at the top of the USCHO.com poll with 26 first-place votes and 964 points. UMass was ranked for 20 straight weeks to end the 2018-19 season, and earned a No. 2 ranking in the final polls.
- UMass entered the national rankings on Oct. 22, 2018 coming in at No. 16 in the USCHO.com poll. The last time the Minutemen were ranked prior to October 2018 was in the USCHO.com poll released on Feb. 15, 2010.
- On November 5, 2018, UMass moved up to No. 9 in the USCHO.com Poll and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll in the No. 9 spot as well, the highest ranking for the Minutemen since November 30, 2009 (No. 9).
- UMass surpassed all previous highs in rankings on Nov. 12, 2018 when the squad was sitting at No. 4 in both polls.
- Previously the highest ranking in program history came in the USCHO.com poll on Dec. 31, 2007 at No. 5. The Minutemen spent six weeks in the top-10 during the 2007-08 season.
- After sitting in the No. 4 spot for two weeks, UMass improved upon its all-time highest ranking, moving up to No. 3 in both polls on Nov. 26, 2018.
- The Minutemen earned their first-ever top-10 ranking (No. 9) on Nov. 10, 2003 and ranked as high as No. 7 that season.
- UMass collected its first-ever national ranking on Jan. 6, 2003. (No. 15 USCHO.com poll/No. 14 USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll).
- On Jan. 14, 2019, UMass received its first No. 1 ranking in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
League Things And Other Tidbits
- Anthony and Marc Del Gazio's father Anthony played college hockey at Merrimack (1983-84). They are the fourth set of siblings to play for the Minutemen in the program's modern era (James Marcou 2007-10 and Michael Marcou 2008-12; Jeff Turner 1997-2001 and Tim Turner 1999-2003; Mike Warner 2000-04 and Tim Warner 2001-05).
- Bobby Trivigno is the second member of his family to play in Hockey East, following in the footsteps of his sister Dana who was a standout forward and former captain for Boston College, where she put up 138 points in 148 career games for the Eagles (2012-16).
- Filip Lindberg first started playing goal after receiving his first set of hand-me-down pads from former Merrimack goaltender and fellow Finland native Rasmus Tirronen, who played for the Warriors from 2011-15.
- Matthew Kessel is the third member of his family to play college hockey. His brother Will played at Western Michigan from 2011-15 and captained the Broncos in 2014-15, while his brother Peter plays at Holy Cross and just completed his junior season with the Crusaders.
- Linden Alger's father Richard played for UMass in the program's inaugural Division I season (1993-94) and then played the next two campaigns at Boston University (1995-97).
