Filip Lindberg is ending his UMass hockey career on top.
After backstopping the Minutemen to their first national championship, the Espoo, Finland, native is forgoing his final season of eligibility to pursue professional hockey opportunities. The Minnesota Wild drafted Lindberg in 2019, but he hasn’t signed with the club yet.
“Fille was simply outstanding in the net this past season and proved that he is ready to move on to the next level of hockey. His development as a goaltender during his time at UMass has been impressive and I give a ton of credit to associate head coach Jared DeMichiel who works closely with our goalies,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said in a release. “Fille has our full support after being an outstanding part of our team and culture and a critical part of our winning the National Championship.”
Lindberg will leave the Minutemen as the program’s all-time leader in save percentage (.935) and goals against average (1.62). His 10 shutouts rank second in program history behind Matt Murray’s 11. Murray will return for an extra season of eligibility next year. Four of those shutouts came in the NCAA Tournament — an NCAA record — where Lindberg was 6-1.
He led the nation in goals against average and save percentage last season and was named All-USCHO second team He posted the third-lowest goals against (1.24) and fourth highest save percentage (.949) in NCAA history en route to a Hockey East second-team all-star nod and Frozen Frozen Four all-tournament team spot.
MINUTEWOMEN ADD TWO – Two transfers will join the UMass women’s basketball team for next season, the team announced. Shavonne Smith is headed to Amherst after three seasons at Towson, and Michelle Pruitt is coming two years at UTEP.
Smith played in 65 games for the Tigers and averaged 12 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
“Shavonne is a 5-foot-11 scoring wing player who is relentless on the offensive boards,” UMass coach Tory Verdi said in a release.
She appeared in the NCAA tournament as a freshman when Towson won the CAA championship.
Pruitt scored 9.3 points per game at UTEP and grabbed 6.7 rebounds last season. The Miners reached the Conference USA semifinals.