College men's hockey: UMass, Canton's Carvel NCAA champs after shutout in final

Apr. 11—Canton native Greg Carvel has become a national championship coach in just his fifth season with the University of Massachusetts men's hockey team.

The Minutemen dominated St. Cloud State 5-0 in the national championship game Saturday night in Pittsburgh to become the first men's team from UMass in any sport to win a national championship.

It's a big climb from Carvel's first season in Amherst after leaving St. Lawrence University. That squad in 2016-17 went 5-29-2.

"I'm very proud," Carvel said. "Where this program was five years ago and now we are national champions. These kids have done it all. I'm 50 years old and this is as good as it gets. I want them to just take it in."

St. Cloud State had a chance to take an early lead when a hard shot from Veeti Miettinen hit the top of the post just 90 seconds into the game.

But that was the only highlight for the Huskies.

The Minutemen struck first at 7 minutes, 26 seconds of the opening period on a two-on-zero breakaway that happened after two St. Cloud State players collided near center ice.

Aaron Bohlinger skated into the zone with the puck and passed to teammate Ryan Sullivan. Sullivan sent the puck back quickly, leaving Bohlinger with an empty corner of the net. It was his first career goal.

The Minutemen upped the lead to 2-0 on a goal from Reed Lebster at 18:56 of the opening period. Cal Kiefiuk skated around behind the net and found Lebster alone near the other side of the crease.

UMass made it 3-0 on a highlight-reel goal from Philip Lagunov, which came while shorthanded.

Lagunov picked up a St. Cloud State turnover in his defensive zone, brought the puck up ice and was met by St. Cloud State's Nick Perbix near the top of the circles.

He made a move to deke past Perbix, setting up a short breakaway, then faked out Huskies goalie David Hrenak and scored on a shot between his legs at 5:10 of the second period.

The Minutemen then upped the lead to 4-0 after two periods when Matthew Kessel scored on an outside shot during a power play at 13:45.

St. Cloud State hoped to score one goal every five minutes of the third period to even the game, but that plan was foiled when Walter Brown Award winner Bobby Trivigno scored six minutes into the final period.

Joining the team for Saturday's game was former SLU captain Carson Gicewicz and goalie Filip Lindberg, who each missed the semifinal due to COVID-19 protocols.

Lindberg finished with 25 saves for the shutout.

The winning margin was the biggest since 2010 when former Clarkson coach Jerry York's Boston College team beat Wisconsin 5-0.

"I'm completely spent," Carvel said. "COVID has been tough on everybody. It's been demanding. You run on adrenaline through these times. We've all gone through it and had a rough time with it. It's been a grind, even winning every night and winning championships. It is tough to maintain that and I'm proud of our kids."