Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Massachusetts' players would lose a season of play.

The Warriors were one of the league's worst teams (at least by reputation) and when the Minutemen could only manage a single shot on goal during the third period, they looked bad.

The rotation at the start was supposed to be a way to determine which player would get the starring role but Lindberg's injury decided for the team.

After the loss to Merrimack, the offense had also recovered; the team scored at least 4 goals in each game during Murray's winning streak.

The team could only earn ties since the offense had gone dormant, but the sterling performance set Lindberg in goal and he continued to pay dividends.

The Minutemen were able to win at the Tsongas Center for the first time in over a decade while Lindberg was named as the Hockey East defensive player of the week.

Due to a growing number of cases on the Amherst campus, UMass paused all athletic programs for several weeks.

The win sent Massachusetts to just its second Hockey East championship game (the first since 2004) and they were facing a surprising Lowell squad that had defeated both BC and BU.

Henry Welsch allowed 1 goal in the first and then shut the door on the Minutemen but Lindberg was perfect in the game, stopping all 16 shots and leading UMass to its first Hockey East Championship.

[7] Even with the Hockey East title, UMass was only able to jump up to 5th in NCAA selection committee's rankings and had to settle for a #2 seed in the tournament.

The Minutemen began the tournament against Lake Superior State, who were making their first appearance in 25 years, but UMass wasn't about to give them a welcome return.

Zac Steigmeyer, a senior and assistant equipment manager, had played goalie in high school and was dragooned into service as an emergency backup.

Zac Jones opened the scoring near the end of the first on the power play and then the team had to weather an offensive storm from UMD.

When Trivigno flew around the back of the net and slid the puck across the front of the goal for a Garrett Wait tap-in, the small but enthusiastic crowd erupted.

[13] After overcoming their biggest challenge of the season, UMass received good news; both Gicewicz and Lindberg tested negative for COVID and drove overnight to Pittsburgh so they could play in the championship game.

UMass got off to a good start, getting a goal from Aaron Bohlinger to open the scoring, and then the two teams played a mostly defensive battle for the remainder of the first.

Cloud, who quadrupled their shot total in the second, but when Philip Lagunov scored an astounding goal on the penalty kill, the game looked to be slipping away from the Huskies.

[14] Trivigno was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player, making up for having been suspended for the Championship game two years earlier.