Shorthanded Umass preps for Frozen Four

Massachusetts will be without four players when it faces Minnesota Duluth on Thursday at the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocols, Umass announced Tuesday.

Carson Gicewicz, Jerry Harding, Filip Lindberg and Henry Graham will miss the game. Head coach Greg Carvel said it’s “hard to comprehend“but something they have to accept.

The Minutemen will meet two-time defending champion Minnesota Duluth in the national semifinals in a rematch of the 2019 NCAA championship game. The winner advances to Saturday’s national championship game against either St. Cloud State or Minnesota State.

Soccer: Italy is ready to let fans back into stadiums in time for Rome hosting European Championship games. Other countries are yet to offer the same assurances. The pandemic-delayed tournament is being staged in 12 cities in as many countries, and UEFA told hosts to let them know by this week about its plans to let supporters into games . ... Vinicius Junior netted his first double for Real Madrid on Tuesday, leading it to a 3-1 win over Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. .. Phil Foden netted Manchester City’s 90th-minute goal to clinch a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. ... Sky Blue of the National Women’s Soccer League has rebranded itself as NJ/NY Gotham FC.

College football: Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez is ending a three-decade run in which he transformed the school’s football team and later guided the Badgers to their greatest all-around sports success in school history.

Tennis: Fifth-seeded Janlennard Struff saved five match points to overcome Joao Sousa 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of the Sardegna Open. Struff will next face Liam Broady, who beat Marc-andrea Huesler 6-1, 6-3. Sixth-seeded John Millman beat Federico Coria 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3, while Lorenzo Musetti swept past Dennis Novak 6-0, 6-1.