MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The Northern Michigan University hockey team's 2020-21 regular season came to a close in an overtime thriller at home against Michigan Technological University, falling 3-2 in the extra session.

The Wildcats held the pressure early, peppering the MTU zone with shots while holding the Huskies to just one through nearly six minutes of the opening frame. MTU's first chance came on a breakaway chance that Rico DiMatteo read the entire way, turning the shot aside as the two teams skated on knotted at 0-0.

At the end of the first period, the Wildcats held the edge in shots, 12-2, while remaining scoreless on the box score.

MTU scored first, finding the back of the net at 8:55 of the second period. After a brief review, the goal was confirmed and the Wildcats found themselves down 1-0.

The Huskies scored again at 4:01 of the final period in regulation when a power play shot trickled under the skate of DiMatteo into the back of the net.

Rylan Van Unen scored the first Wildcat goal of the night at 14:26 to cut the lead in half before Andre Ghantous knotted things up with less than a minute to play to force the overtime session.

The Huskies took the game with an overtime game-winner off a turnover in the Wildcat zone.

GOALS

• Rylan Van Unen tallied his first career goal when he tapped the puck over the line to cut the MTU lead in half, 2-1, late in the third. Connor Marritt got the puck to Michael Van Unen who ripped a shot on net but could not break the plane of the goalline. The rookie forward Van Unen saw the puck sitting idle on the line and ensured the goal with a wide open net in front of him.

• Andre Ghantous buried the equalizer with 59 seconds remaining in regulation to force the overtime frame as M. Van Unen's initial shot hit the pads of the MTU netminder and bounced right onto the stick of Ghantous. With the extra attacker on the ice, Vincent de Mey and Van Unen had a series of passes at the blue line before the latter fired a shot on net for his second assist of the night.

KEY STATS

• Both teams had 29 shots on goal in the contest.

• With his late regulation tally, Andre Ghantous extended his point streak to three games (1-2-3).

• Rylan Van Unen scored his first career goal and point in the contest, scoring the Wildcats' first goal of the night.

• The Van Unen defenseman blocked a team-best seven shots on the night, including a few huge saves late in the contest to get his team to overtime. M. Van Unen's two assists also led the team in points as the only individual with a multi-point game.

UP NEXT

The Wildcats await their fate as the final few Western Collegiate Hockey Association contests play out in the coming days. The post season tournament will get underway March 12-14 with the top-four seeds hosting a best-of-three first round series.