The Massachusetts hockey team will travel to Fargo, North Dakota to take on No. 5 Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 27.

After falling to Boston University in the quarterfinals of the Hockey East Tournament last week, the Minutemen (20-13-5) locked themselves into No. 11 in the pairwise rankings in the tournament. UMass comes into the tournament as a No. 3 seed while Minnesota is a No. 2 seed.

With two weeks of rest, the Minutemen will go into the first round a refreshed team against the Gophers (25-10-4).  Minnesota, though, will be coming into the tournament having not played a game since March 9, giving the team 18 days without a game.

This is the Minutemen’s sixth NCAA tournament and fifth appearance in the last six years. UMass is no stranger to making it far, winning the tournament in 2021 and reaching the Frozen Four twice in the last six years.

Under head coach Greg Carvel, the Minutemen are 7-3 in NCAA Tournament play, proving to be successful when tournament time comes around.

Last season, UMass’ postseason ended early, falling to the Denver Pioneers in the first round in double overtime, 2-1. Goaltender Michael Hrabal totaled 41 saves during the five periods. With an early exit, the Minutemen will come into the tournament hungry to make it far.

UMass will play Minnesota on Thursday, March 27 at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota. Puck drop is set for 8:30 p.m. ET and can be streamed on ESPN2.

Kayla Gregoire can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X/Twitter @Kaygregoire.