PITTSBURGH – Filip Lindberg had 25 saves, Aaron Bohlinger scored his first career goal and Massachusetts won Saturday night against St. Louis. Cloud State 5-0 to win the first NCAA title of the program.
According to the turnover of St. Cloud State, Bohlinger led a break and left the puck to Ryan Sullivan, whose one-touch pass set up Bohlinger once to open the scoring in about 7 minutes of play. Reed Lebster’s final goal, about a minute from the first, gave the Minutemen 2-0.
UMass (20-5-4), which extended its undefeated series to 14 games, made its third appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Minutemen lost 3-0 to Minnesota Duluth – whom UMass defeated in Thursday’s semifinals – in the 2019 title game. The 2020 Frozen Four was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
David Hrenak had 17 saves for St. Cloud State (20-11-0), which made the first title of the program.
Philip Lagunov picked up a weak puck near the center ice, retreated to evade a defender and scored a short goal about five minutes into the second period to make it 3-0. Matthew Kessel added a power-play goal about eight minutes later, and Bobby Trivigno scored in the third.
Lindberg recorded his fourth career spot in the NCAA tournament. The junior from Finland came into the game leading the nation in goals against average (1.33) and percentage of savings (.946).
UMass are 15-0-0 this season when they score at least four goals.