In November 2015, the University of Notre Dame and Boston College played the first football game at Fenway Park in nearly five decades.
This fall, the University of Maine football team will play at the historic home of the Boston Red Sox.
Fenway Sports Management announced Thursday that the Black Bears will take on New England rival the University of Massachusetts on Saturday, Nov. 11.
Kickoff time and ticket information will be announced at a later date.
“The historic prestige and legendary status of Fenway Park make this such a special and unique opportunity for the University of Maine and one we are excited to share with our student-athletes, staff, fans and alumni,” UMaine athletic administrator Karlton Creech said in a news release. “We would like to thank Fenway Sports Management and everyone who worked to make this event at such a historic venue a reality.”
The UMaine hockey team is set to take on the University of Connecticut in its third Frozen Fenway appearance on Friday.
The football game at Fenway will mark the 59th all-time meeting between the Black Bears and the Football Bowl Subdivision Minutemen.
The teams last played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough in 2013, with UMaine prevailing 24-14. The Black Bears and Minutemen were once conference rivals in the Yankee Conference and Atlantic 10 before UMass moved up to the highest division of college football.
“It’s really exciting just having the opportunity for our program and our fan base to be able to play down in Boston, especially at Fenway Park,” UMaine coach Joe Harasymiak said. “There’s so much history and tradition. I know we have a lot of alumni down there.”
Harasymiak’s Black Bears played two games against FBS opponents last fall in UConn and Toledo, and the UMass game will be one of two (University of Central Florida) the team will play next season.
“It’s a chance for our University to kind of rally around our program,” Harasymiak said. “We had a lot of excitement this past fall. I know the UConn game was good for us, and this should be even better.”
Harasymiak also noted that plenty of UMaine fans will likely make the trip to Boston, if the last matchup with UMass is any indication.
“We had a great turnout last time when we were at Gillette, and this time should be even more special now,” he said.
Two other New England college football games are scheduled for Fenway in 2017, with Brown facing Dartmouth on Nov. 10 and UConn hosting Boston College on Nov. 18.
Boston College and Notre Dame played the first football game at Fenway since the then-Boston Patriots called the ballpark home in 1968, with the Fighting Irish earning a 19-16 victory.
Follow Ryan MCLaughlin on Twitter at @rmclaughlin23.
