Fargo again? U betcha.
That’s the destination for the Gophers men’s hockey team for the regional round of the NCAA tournament. Minnesota is the No. 2 seed in the Fargo Regional and will play No. 3 seed Massachusetts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2) at Scheels Arena. Top-seeded Western Michigan will meet Minnesota State Mankato in Thursday’s other semifinal at 4 p.m. (ESPNU). The winners play Saturday at either 3 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. on ESPNU for a berth in the Frozen Four.
This marks the second time in three years that the Gophers will play in the Fargo Regional. In 2023, they beat Canisius and St. Cloud State to reach the Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., where they fell to Quinnipiac 3-2 in overtime in the national championship game.
The Gophers (25-10-4) aren’t exactly entering the NCAA tournament on a roll. They fell to last-place Notre Dame in three games in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals and had two weeks off while other teams played for conference tournament titles. The Gophers, who shared the Big Ten regular-season title with Michigan State, have an 8-7-2 record since Jan. 10. They are making their fifth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance under coach Bob Motzko.
Massachusetts (20-13-5) finished in sixth place in Hockey East and went 1-1 in the conference tournament, falling 3-2 in overtime to Boston University in the quarterfinals. The Minutemen are 5-2-3 in their past 10 games. The Gophers and UMass met in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Worcester Regional with Minnesota winning 4-3 on Ben Meyers’ goal 8:31 into overtime. The Gophers beat Western Michigan 3-0 two days later to reach the Frozen Four in Boston.
UMass junior forward Cole O’Hara is tied for fourth nationally in scoring with 51 points on 22 goals and 29 assists. Goalie Michael Hrabal has a 2.32 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.
Top-seeded Western Michigan (30-7-1) won its first NCHC Frozen Faceoff, defeating North Dakota 4-2 in the semifinals and rallying from a three-goal deficit to beat Denver 4-3 for the title on Alex Bump’s goal 22 seconds into the second overtime. The Broncos, who also won the NCHC regular-season title, are 17-3 in their past 20 games.
Alex Bump, a sophomore from Prior Lake, leads Western Michigan scoring (23-23-46) and is one of five Broncos with 30 or more points. Freshman goalie Hampton Slukynsky of Warroad has a 2.04 GAA and .918 save percentage.
