Lindberg, Gicewicz headed to Pittsburgh in hopes of playing in the national title game
Three of the four Massachusetts players who missed Thursday's national semifinal due to COVID-19 protocols will travel to Pittsburgh on Friday in hopes of rejoining the team before Saturday's national championship game against St. Cloud State.
Leading scorer Carson Gicewicz as well as goaltenders Filip Lindberg and Henry Graham will travel to Pittsburgh on Friday. Sophomore forward Jerry Harding will remain out.
The three players will test immediately upon arriving in Pittsburgh and will remain isolated from the rest of the team. The players will then test again on Saturday morning and if all tests are negative, the players can rejoin the team for pregame activities prior to Saturday's national championship game.
The players were out because of “COVID-19 contact tracing protocols," the school said earlier this week.
Lindberg, who leads the nation in save percentage, has been Massachusetts starting goaltender since he returned from injury on Jan. 22; the Minutemen haven’t lost with him between the pipes since then.
Matt Murray, who split time with Lindberg often in the last two years, became the starter on Thursday and led the Minutemen to an overtime win over Minnesota Duluth.
On Thursday, the team enlisted student equipment manager Zac Steigmeyer as the backup. Steigmayer played prep hockey in Massachusetts, with his last action coming in 2017.
Gicewicz leads the team with 17 goals and had a hat trick for the Minutemen in a regional final victory over Bemidji State. Harding appeared in 25 games this season and posted six points and Graham is the third goalie on UMass’ roster.