BOSTON — The University of Massachusetts hockey program was in a vastly different state when Greg Carvel took over in 2016.
The Minutemen won just five times during his first season at the helm, but the next five years have been a meteoric rise to the top of the college hockey world.
Another milestone along the program’s journey was achieved Saturday night at TD Garden as sophomore defenseman Aaron Bohlinger redirected senior Anthony Del Gaizo’s shot from the high slot at 3:06 of overtime to lift UMass to a 2-1 win over Connecticut, securing its second consecutive Hockey East championship.
“When I got to UMass, things weren’t in a good place. Six years later, this is where we’re at,” Carvel said after his team became the first to win back-to-back Lamoriello trophies since UMass Lowell in 2013 and 2014.
Where the Minutemen are at would not be possible without two of Carvel’s stalwart staff members in associate head coach Jared DeMichiel and Ben Barr, the latter of whom became the head coach at Maine after last year’s national title run. Barr had spent five seasons in Amherst, helping the Minutemen to their back-to-back Frozen Four appearances after helping to build programs at Union and Providence that ultimately won their first titles.
“It doesn’t matter what I do, it’s what the kids do. I give Ben Barr and Jared DeMichiel so much credit,” Carvel added. “… Our second recruiting class, we had lost 29 games and we were trying to recruit, but we got Bobby Trivigno, we got Colin Felix, we got Anthony and Marc Del Gaizo, Fille Lindberg. These kids are hard, hard kids.”
The road for those players led to a first-ever NCAA title last year in Pittsburgh and has continued with another season as a top Hockey East contender.
Commitment, to timely goals and defense
A 22-win mark isn’t achieved with just star players. The latest triumph came thanks to the heroics of Bohlinger, a younger member of the group as just a second-year player out of Walden, N.Y.
But, he has made his presence felt in the biggest of games.
The deciding score — ending the first Hockey East title game to go to overtime since 2010 — was the third goal of Bohlinger’s career in his 58th game, and his second of the season. His first career goal opened the scoring in last April’s national title game against St. Cloud State.
Could he have picked better times to light the lamp?
“He told me after the game that he only scores in championship games,” Carvel joked. “He was really good this weekend. I thought our defense was really good — (Matthew) Kessel, Felix, (Ryan) Ufko. Our defense has always been our strength. When they’re playing really good two-way hockey, it makes us a really good team.
“Bohlinger, that’s the best he’s played all year. He’s found his game, and he’s a really effective player when he’s moving and controlling the game with the puck.”
Offensive defensemen like Cale Makar and Zac Jones have helped the UMass build over recent years, but playing in the back end — all backstopped by fifth-year senior goaltender Matt Murray — has been a strength of this team for a while.
Murray has had a stranglehold on the starting job since Lindberg departed for the pros, starting all but one game this season. On this night though, he needed to make only 19 saves on the way to setting a single-season program record for wins for the second time in his career.
UConn, which was playing for its first championship after winning its first Hockey East playoff game against Boston University in the quarterfinal round, was held to just three shots in the first period and two in the third.
“That’s our game plan. Defense first,” Bohlinger said. “Good defense leads to offense and the best offense starts with good defense. We knew that going in. It’s something we take pride in. When we take care of that, games tend to go our way. …
“(Murray) is special. Defense is our focus, and he makes our lives easier consistently. We’re so grateful, thankful and lucky to have him.”
A 'unique' captain
Of course, you can’t talk about this team or this run without Trivigno, who claimed Hockey East Tournament MVP honors for the second straight year. Only current Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck had achieved that feat in the past, having helped Lowell to the aforementioned consecutive titles.
He’s a dynamic offensive player whose 28 goals and 48 points this season have vaulted him into a tie for the program’s Hockey East-era career scoring record and earned a second straight nod as a top-level all-star in the conference. He also plays the game with heart and toughness, bringing forth a complete package that is special to his coach.
“He’s the most unique kid I’ve ever coached and it’s not even close,” Carvel said. “He never gets tired, he never has a bad attitude, he never gets out-willed. Never, never, never. Every single day he’s the hardest working kid. He has it. He has a fire inside him that’s unmatched.”
The toughness part stands out just as much as the 5-foot-9 winger’s scoring ability.
“Other teams run at him,” Carvel said. “Do you ever see him fall down? You’ve got to hit him from behind to knock him down.”
Being that all-around player is key to Trivigno, as evidenced by his taking down big UConn forward Nick Capone (East Haven, Conn.) and drawing a penalty on a following hit in the first period.
On the offensive end, his goal in the middle frame tied the game and set up Bohlinger’s final strike. Trivigno scored in all three playoff games.
“I wouldn't want any other way (than to win at UMass),” Trivigno said, “and all the credit goes to my teammates, my coaches who have really pushed me and developed me and cultivated me into the person I am today. …
“My mindset is a huge thing. I’ve always been overlooked, been cut from teams that I thought I should have made and just continue to prove people wrong despite what they think of me and my size, my strength, my skating, my shot, whatever it is. … The biggest key to my success is continuing to work as hard as I can until I make my dreams a reality.”
Looking ahead
The Minutemen were the lone Hockey East team assured of qualifying for the NCAA tournament regardless of Saturday’s results, having entered as the No. 11 team in the Pairwise Rankings.
Carvel’s club remained in that position despite seeing their chances of the league’s regular-season title wiped away with two losses to Boston College two weekends earlier. They needed just a single point in order to hold Northeastern off, and they couldn’t get it.
But, they didn’t waste the second chance at league hardware.
“I’m so happy for our program and our kids. They deserved it,” Carvel said. “We didn’t win the (regular-season) league championship and we didn’t deserve to. I’m glad we didn’t just back into it. But, we earned the playoff championship. I’m very proud of our group.”
UMass will be joined in the 16-team national tournament field by fellow Hockey East members UMass Lowell and Northeastern, who received at-large bids.
“I think there are some happy teams in our league because we won tonight, and that’s great for our league,” Carvel said. “... Northeastern and Lowell are good hockey teams. It will be great to see how Hockey East can make some noise in the tournament.”
There is now a road ahead for the Minutemen to go back-to-back again. With two more wins, that chance would come on the very same ice at the Frozen Four.
