BUFFALO, N.Y. — It wasn’t meant to be for the University of Massachusetts hockey team in the Frozen Four finale. The Minutemen were unable to muster any offense in a 3-0 shutout loss as Minnesota Duluth repeated as national champions.
“Pretty special right now,” said Bulldog coach Scott Sandelin. “I thought our guys from start to finish were on it. I couldn't be more proud of this group.”
“Excellent hockey team. Not surprising they've been in the championship game for three years in a row. Extremely well-coached team. Seemed like tonight they were a more mature team,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel.
UMD came out firing on all cylinders. Bulldog captain Parker Mackay scored a power play goal 3:51 into the game. UMD outshot UMass, 14-5, in the opening 20 minutes.
Mikey Anderson, who also had two assists, sniped a wrist shot into the top righthand corner of the net with 4:12 to play in the second period to extend the lead to 2-0.
“Parker was coming up the boards. He made a great play through the middle. I just tried to find a hole. Parker connected. I just had to put it upstairs,” Anderson explained.
With UMass looking for anything it could to get back in the game, Jackson Cates put the finishing touches on the win with a goal at the 17:18 mark of the third period.
UMD goaltender Hunter Shepard stopped all 18 shots he faced. In large part due to his team’s suffocating defense, he allowed just seven goals in eight post-season games for a 0.79 goals against average and .967 save percentage.
“(Shepard) has been our brick wall all season long. He was our most consistent player. I think he was our most competitive player. I don't think we are even close to where we are without him,” said Mackay.
“I think their six (defensemen) are very, very good. I was very impressed with their back end. They've got some big guys that are physical. Their puck poise, puck management was extremely, extremely good. That's as good of a back end as we've seen this year,” complimented Carvel.
With the Minnesota Duluth win, it marked the fourth consecutive season a team from the NCHC has won the national championship. North Dakota started the streak in 2016. Denver captured the title in 2017 before the Bulldogs won in 2018 and 2019.
While it was a tough ending, the 2018-19 season will always be remembered as a special for one for the UMass hockey team. A Hockey East Regular Season Championship, a trip to the Frozen Four and 30 wins were all program firsts.
“It's tough right now. I'm pretty sour. But you look back at the two years that I've been at this school, especially this year,” said Hobey Baker Award winner Cale Makar when asked to reflect on his two years at UMass. “The amount of respect that we've created for this emblem of Massachusetts and UMass, it's just amazing.”
Makar will likely turn pro and sign immediately with the Colorado Avalanche, the team that drafted him fourth overall in the 2017 NHL Draft. There’s a good chance he could join the team for the rest of its playoff run.
“I’m very proud of my team, our team, and extremely proud of Cale. He came back this year. He didn't have to do that. I think he's a kid that he sees the group ahead of himself. He wanted to help take the program to another level, and he did that along the way. He did it with complete class every step of the way,” said Carvel.
“He's an outstanding young man. I think he's a better person than he is a hockey player. Very appreciative of what he gave to UMass hockey. Hoping he comes back next year, but we'll see if that happens or not,” said Carvel with a smile.
Losing Makar and grad student Jacob Pritchard, who was the second leading scorer, will obviously be big blows. However, there’s still quite a bit of talent returning, assuming everyone else comes back. Sophomore defenseman Mario Ferraro and sophomore right wing Mitchell Chaffee are probably the two biggest flight risks.
