Massachusetts Wins Men’s NCAA Hockey Championship

In 2019, Massachusetts lost to Minnesota-Duluth 3-0 in the NCAA men’s hockey championship game. The Minutemen had to wait two years for another shot at the title; like the Final Four in basketball, there was no Frozen Four in 2020 due to Covid-19. UMASS returned to the Frozen Four this year, and this time beat Minnesota-Duluth 3-2 in a semifinal game to return to the championship game.

UMASS faced off against another Minnesota team, St. Cloud State, which was making its first ever title game appearance. The Minutemen scored twice in the first period and dominated the game on April 10th on the way to a 5-0 victory for the first title in school history. Five different players scored the five Minutemen goals, and goalie Filip Lindberg had 25 saves. The junior from Finland had a great season, finishing with a record of 10-1-4, a 1.24 goals against average, and a .949 save percentage. Lindberg was a 2019 seventh round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild.

Last month, Wisconsin beat Northeastern 2-1 in overtime to win the NCAA women’s hockey title. It was the second championship in a row for the Badgers (with a year hiatus due to Covid-19) and sixth overall. All six championship have occurred under coach Mark Johnson, a former NHL player and member of the 1980 Olympic Miracle on Ice gold medal team.