UMass wins 2021 DI men's hockey championship, program's first national title

Here is the final printable NCAA DI men's ice hockey tournament bracket for the 2021 Frozen Four. You can click or tap right here to open up a printable version of the bracket pictured below in a new tab or window. 

Bobby Trivigno has been UMass' best offensive player this year.

Fitting he makes it 5-0:

— Evan Marinofsky (@emarinofsky)

UMass just can't stop scoring. 

Bobby Trivigno made it 5-0 when he sniped one past David Hrenak early in the third period. 

Here's the reaction from inside the arena: 

The UMass faithful loving the 5-0 lead after Trivigno’s goal.

— Stanford Becton (@stan_becton)

Matt Kessel with a bomb and it's 4-0 UMass:

— Evan Marinofsky (@emarinofsky)

UMass continued its domination of St. Cloud State late in the second period when Matthew Kessel wired a slapper past David Hrenak to make it 4-0 UMass. 

Here's the reaction from inside the arena: 

After making a few saves, St. Cloud State can’t hold off UMass any longer as Matthew Kessel fires one in. 4-0 UMass late in the 2nd

— Stanford Becton (@stan_becton)

Phil Lagunov with the nicest goal of the season and it comes shorthanded.

3-0 UMass:

— Evan Marinofsky (@emarinofsky)

What. a. goal. 

Phil Lagunov cashed in shorthanded for UMass, dangling around Nick Perbix and slipping it through David Hrenak to give UMass the 3-0 lead early in the second period. 

An amazing move by Philip Lagunov to put UMass up 3-0 against St. Cloud State in the 2nd period

— Stanford Becton (@stan_becton)

Reed Lebster extends the UMass lead to 2-0:

— Evan Marinofsky (@emarinofsky)

Reed Lebster extended UMass' lead to 2-0 after tapping in a pass from Cal Kiefiuk. 

UMass leads 2-0. 

Aaron Bohlinger picks a great time for his first collegiate goal.

1-0 UMass in the national title game:

— Evan Marinofsky (@emarinofsky)

UMass scored the first goal in the national title game when a little over seven minutes in, Aaron Bohlinger scored his first collegiate goal to make it 1-0 Minutemen. 

Not a bad time for a first career goal. 

Here's the reaction from inside the arena: 

UMass opens the National Championship with a goal from Aaron Bohlinger 🏒

— Stan Becton (@stan_becton)

The 2021 Frozen Four national championship game, previewed

It’s here. It’s finally here. 

In less than an hour, UMass and St. Cloud State will battle for the national title. No matter which squad wins, it will be their first national championship in school history. 

Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. ET. . 

Here are the lines: 

UMass Minutemen 

20 Oliver Chau - 18 Jake Gaudet - 11 Carson Gicewicz 

8 Bobby Trivigno - 10 Josh Lopina - 12 Garrett Wait 

7 Cal Kiefiuk - 17 Phil Lagunov - 13 Reed Lebster 

12 Anthony Del Gaizo - 29 George Mika - 19 Ryan Sullivan 

28 Eric Faith 

2 Marc Del Gaizo - 26 Colin Felix 

24 Zac Jones - 4 Matthew Kessel 

25 Aaron Bohlinger - 3 Ty Farmer 

35 Filip Lindberg 

St. Cloud State Huskies 

10 Kyler Kupka - 20 Nolan Walker - 15 Micah Miller 

27 Chase Brand - 28 Kevin Fitzgerald - 19 Sam Hentges 

29 Veeti Miettinen - 13 Jami Krannila - 14 Zach Okabe 

22 Joe Molenaar - 16 Will Hammer - 21 Jared Cockrell 

3 Seamus Donohue - 25 Nick Perbix 

18 Brendan Bushy - 9 Spencer Meier 

6 Luke Jaycox - 5 Ondrej Trejbal 

8 Tyler Anderson 

34 David Hrenak 

Getty Images

We're finally here. The 2021 DI men's ice hockey championship concludes tonight at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, and neither contender, St. Cloud State or UMass, has ever won the title. It's going to be an exciting night. 

2021 FROZEN FOUR FINALS: St. Cloud State vs. UMass live stats | Full bracket

Here's how St. Cloud State and UMass got to this point:

The Huskies were picked to finish fourth in the NCHC to begin the season. Fast forward to selection day: St. Cloud State entered the NCAA tournament as the second seed in the Northeast region. Not too shabby. The toughest blow came in the regional final against 1-seed Boston College. The Huskies found themselves down 1-0 early when senior forward Easton Brodzinski broke his leg. They came back to win and are now competing for their first national championship.

UMass carried a different storyline heading into the 2021-21 season. The Minutemen finished as 2019 championship runner-ups. They closed out the 2020-21 regular season winning the program's first-ever Hockey East tournament title. Now, after an overtime thriller in the Frozen Four semifinals against Minnesota Duluth, UMass is ready to hoist its first championship trophy in program history.

For more on the path to the DI men's ice hockey championship for St. Cloud State and UMass, click or tap here.

UMass spent the majority of the first three periods getting outplayed. Then came overtime and UMass looked like a whole new team. 

That domination showed on the scoreboard when a little over 14 minutes into the fourth frame, Bobby Trivigno brought the puck from behind the net and found Garrett Wait for the tap-in to win, 3-2. 

The Minutemen forced OT midway through the third period when Anthony Del Gaizo tied the game 2-2. 

In the second period, the lone goal belonged to Cole Koepke to put the Bulldogs up 2-1 after their first goal late in the first period when Tanner Laderoute got them on the board. 

Zac Jones scored the first goal of the game on the power play. 

UMass will face St. Cloud State in the national title game Saturday night. The game is at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Garrett Wait gets the winner in OT to send UMass to the title game for the second straight Frozen Four.

What a story.

— Evan Marinofsky (@emarinofsky)

UMass dominated overtime from start to finish. 

That culminated in Garrett Wait's OT-winner from Bobby Trivigno's effort behind the net. 

The Minutemen advance to their second-straight title game.