Greg Carvel ’89 guided the University of Massachusetts men’s hockey team to the 2021 NCAA Division I hockey championship, completing a stunning turnaround for the program.

The Minutemen won the title game in dominant fashion, blanking St. Cloud State 5-0 on Saturday to secure the first national championship in the school’s history.

It marks a tremendous upward ascent for a program that won just five games in 2016-2017, Carvel’s first year at the helm. The team improved quickly, however, nearly breaking even the following year and finishing with 31 wins in 2018-2019, good for a league title and a runner-up finish at the Frozen Four.

After last year’s tournament was canceled due to COVID, the Minutemen returned this season with a record of 16-5-4, winning the Hockey East tournament. Despite not being seeded in the NCAA tournament, the team charged ahead with two dominant victories, beating Lake Superior State 5-1 and then Bemidji State 4-0.

The team’s toughest test came in the semifinals, when it survived a 3-2 overtime win over Minnesota Duluth. The Minutemen trailed 2-1 with less than 10 minutes to play, but rallied to tie the game and scored late in the first overtime to secure a berth in the title game.

The title game offered less drama but plenty of fireworks for UMass, who scored early and often. Forward Philip Lagunov scored a highlight-worthy shorthanded goal in the second period, and goalie Filip Lindberg set an NCAA tournament record with his fourth career shutout.

For Carvel, the title is a highlight in an already successful career. After several assistant coach stints in both the NHL and in college, he took his first head coaching job at his alma mater, St. Lawrence University. Carvel coached at SLU for four years before moving on to UMass.