For the first time in over a decade, the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team is going back to the NCAA tournament for a third-straight season.

The Bulldogs officially punched their ticket to the big dance Sunday morning after the NCAA's selection show revealed UMD will travel to Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. Thursday to face Clarkson University in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs are less than a year removed from their 2022 NCAA  Frozen Four title game appearance, and will make a third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since they made seven-straight tournaments between 2005-2011 in the opening decade of the program.

UMD will face a non-Western Collegiate Hockey Association opponent in the NCAA tournament opening round for a third consecutive season. Overall, the Bulldogs own a 25-9-3 record and have gone 8-8-1 against teams ranked in the top-10.  The winner of the Bulldog-Golden Knights showdown Thursday will face the second-seeded University of Minnesota next Saturday at Ridder Arena.

"I love it, I love it. And that's kind of what our team is about," said UMD head coach Maura Crowell when asked about the value of her fifth-year players. "I think, what you learn with fifth-years — nobody's had experience with fifth years, right? This is a brand new thing. What you learn is they really get excited for this part of the year, because once you taste the NCAA tournament, Frozen Four, national championship, you can't wait to get back to it. But you got to get through the grind of the season. I think we did well throughout the season — obviously — put us in a good spot here to continue."

This will mark the second-ever First Round game for UMD in the NCAA Tournament, which expanded to 11 teams last season.  All-time, UMD is 19-8 in the NCAA postseason, including 7-4 in NCAA First Round/Quarterfinals and marks the 14th time UMD has been invited to the NCAA Tournament in program history.  The Bulldogs went 3-1 a season ago in the 2022 NCAA postseason -- UMD shutout Harvard in the First Round game 4-0 before defeating the Gophers 2-1 in the Regional Final. The Bulldogs then defeated Northeastern 2-1 in the semifinals of the NCAA Frozen Four before falling to Ohio State University in the NCAA title tilt 3-2.

Game time for Thursday's NCAA postseason skate is set for 6:00 p.m.