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UMass, American International College Compete In NCAA Men's Hockey Tourney

UMass defenseman Cale Makar.
THOM KENDALL

The NCAA men's hockey tournament gets underway Friday. UMass and American International College both made the bracket. 

UMass has been ranked among the top four teams in the country since November, but they had a rough end to their Hockey East conference tournament last week, getting shut out by Boston College.

The Minutemen now begin their push for a national title against Harvard, playing in Manchester, New Hampshire.

AIC begins the tournament much farther from home. The Yellow Jackets are playing in Fargo, North Dakota, against St. Cloud State, the top-ranked team in the country.

However that goes, it's been a stunning turnaround for AIC — which had its first winning season in 25 years.

Other New England schools in the "Frozen Four" tournament are Providence, Northeastern and Quinnipiac.

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Sam Hudzik has overseen local news coverage on New England Public Media since 2013. He manages a team of about a dozen full- and part-time reporters and hosts.