MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Lynx will return to Rochester, Minnesota, this spring to play a preseason game.

The defending WNBA champions said Monday they will take on the Washington Mystics at Mayo Civic Center on May 8.

It will be the Lynx’s first trip to southern Minnesota since 2003, when they also played the Mystics in Rochester.

The Lynx announced a multi-year partnership with Mayo Clinic before the 2014 season.

The game will be Minnesota’s final preseason game before the Lynx open their 18th season at home against the Phoenix Mercury on May 14. The Lynx’s only other preseason game is against New York at Columbia University on May 5.