BUFFALO, N.Y. — UMass freshman forward Bobby Trivigno has been suspended for the national championship game Saturday for a hit delivered late in the third period of Thursday’s semifinal overtime victory over Denver.
Trivigno’s elbow clearly made contact with Jake Durflinger’s head near the UMass bench, but there was no penalty called on the play. When asked about the hit after the game, Denver coach David Carle said he asked for the referees to take a closer look at the play.
“Yeah, I asked them to take a look at it,” Carle said. “I was asked if I wanted to use my challenge. I chose not to.”
The play was being reviewed by the NCAA since Marc Del Gaizo’s winning goal in overtime, but the announcement of the suspension was not made until shortly before the Minutemen took the ice for practice Friday. UMass coach Greg Carvel said he was disappointed in the decision because he felt the 5-foot-8 Trivigno was trying to protect himself when the contact occurred.
“It’s frustrating because we felt the game got to that point where he had to defend himself,” Carvel said. “It was actually a defensive situation, the kid was coming at him and he got his elbow up to defend himself. I understand why he was suspended, but I feel strongly the game shouldn’t have gotten to that point.”
Thursday’s semifinal featured three players being assessed game misconducts, two from UMass and one from Denver. There were five other penalties called in the game as well, which prompted Carvel to say in his postgame press conference that the referees dictated the momentum in the game.
He reiterated those comments in the wake of the news Friday.
“I’ve never seen a game with that many people thrown out, in a national semifinal game, it was unlike any game I’ve coached,” Carvel said. “Just add that onto the pile of unfortunate situations.”
The news was still too fresh for Carvel to commit to a specific shift in his lineup, but Trivigno’s absence will be felt across the lineup. The freshman had been playing on the second line during the stretch run of the regular season and into the playoffs. That spot could be filled by John Leonard, who played alongside Jacob Pritchard and Phillip Lagunov for most of the season, or Anthony Del Gaizo, who was bumped up to the first line after the penalties Thursday.
Either way, it is a loss that UMass will need to fill from somewhere. Trivigno scored 13 goals and registered 28 points this season, including the tying goal in the first period of the win over the Pioneers.
“We’ll rally around it,” Carvel said. “Bobby is a really big piece, a really important player in this year’s success. I feel badly for him, when you’re 5-8 you have to protect yourself a little bit out there and unfortunately he crossed the line.”