Eight freshmen are set to lace up their skates for the Massachusetts hockey team this fall for the 2018-19 season.
Robert Trivigno signed his National Letter of Intent Friday, capping off the eight-man freshmen class UMass will welcome.
Trivigno is the third forward to sign with the Minutemen, along with Anthony Del Gaizo and Bobby Kaiser. UMass is bringing in four defensemen in Marc Del Gaizo, Ty Farmer, Colin Felix and Kolby Vegara as well plus goaltender Filip Lindberg.
Brothers Anthony and Marc Del Gaizo have had the most prolific junior careers among the newcomers. Anthony wrapped up his third season with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League this spring, where he scored 40 goals and amassed 72 points on the way to being named the 2018 USHL Player of the Year.
Marc led all USHL defensemen in goals this past regular season with 12 while compiling the third-most points among blueliners with 38. On April 15, Marc was featured in the NHL Central Scouting’s Final Rankings list as the No. 187 ranked North American Skater ahead of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
Kaiser, a teammate of the Del Gaizo brothers with the Lumberjacks in 2017-18, is following the pair to Amherst. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder brings size and strength to the Minutemen and enjoyed a career year scoring eight goals for 15 points with the Lumberjacks.
Rounding out the forward group, Trivigno starred for the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks where he tallied 16 goals and 27 assists last year. Previously, Trivigno won a national championship with Shattuck St. Mary’s under-16 team in 2016.
As a defenseman with the Fargo Force of the USHL, Farmer recorded 39 points in 58 regular season games. The Force are currently battling the Youngstown Phantoms in the Clark Cup championship series and in 12 playoff games, Farmer has seven points. The 5-foot 11, 165-pound defender also has international playing experience as he suited up for Team USA during the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.
Vegara, a Malden, Massachusetts native, played for the Philadelphia Rebels of the North American Hockey League in 2017-18 where he served as an assistant captain and totaled 22 points.
Felix joins the UMass backend after registering 27 points and 166 penalty minutes with the Madison Capitals of the USHL.
Despite already carrying three goaltenders, the Minutemen are bringing in another in Lindberg. Hailing from Espoo, Finland, Lindberg put up solid numbers with the TUTO Hockey under-20 team in the Jr. A SM-liiga league with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Along with Marc, Lindberg also made the Central Scouting’s Final rankings list but for European goaltenders.
With the addition of the eight members of the Class of 2022, UMass will carry 21 underclassmen with all 13 Minutemen freshmen expected back next year.
Ryan Ames can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @_RyanAmes.
