PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – The University of Maine will play Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA hockey tournament after receiving a No. 4 seed in Sunday’s selection announcement.

The Black Bears (20-12-7) will play on the Gophers’ home ice at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis next Saturday in the West region. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the Ohio St.-Cornell semifinal in Sunday’s regional final.

Minnesota (26-14-1) is the top-ranked team in the West region. Maine and Minnesota met in the national championship game in 2002, with Minnesota coming out on top, 4-3, in overtime.

Boston College was named the top seed in the East region, Denver in the Northeast and Colorado College in the Midwest. Each region has four teams.

The regionals get under way next Friday, with the Frozen Four finals taking place in Columbus, Ohio, beginning April 7 with the finals on April 9.

Maine had an up-and-down season, but came on strong near the end with a 5-2-1 record in its final eight games before losing to Boston College in double overtime in the Hockey East semifinals.

Coach Tim Whitehead said the team wasn’t sure a few weeks ago it would make the tournament.

“The challenge for these guys is recognizing that we have just as good of a shot as anybody,” Whitehead said. “We might have a tougher road than a few teams, but the key is how we are playing now and what improvements we have made since the beginning of the year.”

Among other New England colleges, Boston University will play North Dakota in the first round of the East regional in Worcester, Mass., while New Hampshire and Harvard play each other in the first round of the Northeast regional in Amherst, Mass.

AP-ES-03-20-05 1332EST