Aydar Suniev scored in overtime to send the UMass hockey team past Minnesota, 5-4, during the Fargo Regional semifinal of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Fargo, North Dakota.

The Minutemen tallied three in the third period and erased a 3-1 deficit on goals from Suniev, Daniel Jencko and Francesco Dell’Elce, before Suniev tapped in the game-winner off a nifty backhand feed from Dans Locmelis at the Golden Gophers goalmouth early in the extra frame.

“It means a lot,” Suniev said. “It definitely was a little emotional last year [losing in the NCAA Tournament], we couldn’t get it done for our seniors. But this we got [Linden] Alger and [Lucas] Mercuri, so we just want to do it for those guys, so it was special tonight.”

Suniev sniped it past Minnesota goalie Liam Souliere at seven minutes, 14 seconds of the third to make it 3-2. Souliere then left the ice for an apparent equipment malfunction and backup Nathan Airey had to step in.

UMass scored on its first shot on Airey to tie it 3-3 on a net-front redirection from Jencko, 1:35 later. Souliere then reentered the game and Dell’Elce scored on a shot from the point that changed direction off a Golden Gophers stick, giving the Minutemen their first lead of the game, 4-3, at 15:07.

“We do a good job getting to the net so if we don’t have a shot lane I think [deflections] are our next look,” Dell’Elce said.

Minnesota’s Hobey finalist Jimmy Snuggerud capped off the scoring frenzy in the final frame with a fireball that went through UMass goalie Michael Hrabal’s five hole, forcing overtime at 4-4.

Thursday’s semifinal favored the Golden Gophers to start in the opening 20 minutes, following an initial feeling-out process between the two squads.

The game opened up in a hurry with three quick penalties. The Minutemen had back-to-back infractions with penalties on Bo Cosman and Lucas Mercuri, but a tripping penalty on Golden Gophers’ Matthew Wood brought play to 4-on-3.

Minnesota quickly converted on the abbreviated man-advantage as Snuggerud’s one-timer put the Golden Gophers in the driver’s seat at 1-0.

UMass changed gears almost immediately, netting the equalizer 20 seconds later. Larry Keenan threw a low-percentage shot on goal off the rush and the puck found it’s way in, tying the game 1-1.

Nearly four minutes later, Minnesota went back ahead with a goal from Brody Lamb. The Golden Gophers center flicked a snap shot from the faceoff dot into the top corner, seconds after the puck was dropped for the draw, as Minnesota went back on top, 2-1, at 18:49 of the first.

The Golden Gophers kept the pedal to the metal during the second period, yet Hrabal was up to the task, with a handful of high-end stops.

Minnesota eventually broke through with the 3-1 tally at 14:07 of the second on a tuck from Connor Kurth. The Minutemen lost coverage in the defensive zone and Kurth took a pass from Jimmy Clark in the slot and deked around Hrabal, before sliding the backhander into the yawning cage.

The wild third period, led by UMass’ second forward line, set the stage for the overtime finish.

“There was a lot of talk about Minnesota’s break coming into the game being a factor, I think 10 days off for us proved to be a factor,” Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel said. “We were not very good the first half of the game. I challenged the team after the second intermission and they came out and it looked like UMass hockey in the third period. Extrememly proud of the guys. That was a huge win.”

Suniev’s winner at 4:49 of overtime sends the Minutemen into the Fargo Regional final against Western Michigan on Saturday.