UMass Lowell to Host the Cactus Cup in January

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For the second year in a row, the UMass Lowell men’s hockey team will spend the first weekend in January in a warm climate. That’s because they will host the Cactus Cup in Palm Springs, California, for the second year in a row. The other three teams making the trip out west with them are Minnesota State, St. Cloud State, and Yale. The first night of the tournament is January 2, with the consolation and championship games on January 3.

The River Hawks (16-16-5) will meet Minnesota State University, Mankato on Friday at 3:30 PM, followed by St. Cloud vs Yale. at 7:30 PM. Tickets for the tournament will go on sale to the general public starting this coming Friday, June 6, at 10 AM on Ticketmaster, which is the official ticketing provider of the Acrisure Arena, where this event will be played.

For Minnesota State, this will be their only tournament of the season. They play out of the CCHA conference, and last season they went 27-9-3, and had five wins over ranked teams during the year. In the conference tournament, the Mavericks would defeat both Lake Superior State and Bemidji State to win the conference postseason tournament. They were selected for the NCAA hockey tournament, where they would lose in double overtime to the eventual National Champions Western Michigan by a 2-1 score in the Fargo, ND Regional. The Mavericks will begin next season as the regular season and postseason champs. Head coach Luke Strand will be adding 24 recruits to the program when summer training gets started.

The St. Cloud State Huskies were 14-21-1 a season ago, playing in the NCHC league. They finished the year on a three-game losing streak and were eliminated by Western Michigan in their league’s postseason tournament. Yale’s season was a rough one as they finished at 6-21-3, losing their final three games of the season. The Bulldogs’ season ended in the opening round of the ECAC hockey tournament against Cornell by a 5-1 score.

The second annual Cactus Cup should be a good one and a great way to start the new year.