Photo courtesy of Jim Rosvold

MANKATO, Minn. — The Northern Michigan University hockey team's post-season run came to a heartbreaking end Saturday night as they fell in the WCHA Championship game to the No. 17 Lake Superior State Lakers, 6-3.

The Lakers held puck possession for the first few minutes of action, scoring an early goal to give them an edge the Wildcats fought all game to overcome. 

As Rico DiMatteo tried to cover a loose puck off the right post, a Laker skater flipped the puck up and into the back of the net as the Wildcats found themselves trailing early, with 18:40 left to play in the first.

A turnover in the offensive zone led to a Lakers rush with just under eight to play in the opening frame. A shot ricocheted off the pads of DiMatteo onto a Lakers' stick for the 2-0 score.

The Wildcats turned things around in the latter half of the period but were unable to break Lakers' netminder Mareks Mitens in goal and skated to the locker room down 2-0 after 20 minutes.

LSSU made it 3-0 as a saucer shot hit the back of the net at 11:51 of the second period.

The Lakers would get one more in the period before Andre Ghantous broke the Wildcats' scoreless run with a power play goal at 19:14 of the second.

The Wildcat offensive success continued in the opening minutes of the third period as AJ Vanderbeck found the back of the net at 3:05 to cut the Lakers' lead to 4-2. 

After the Lakers lit the lamp for the fifth time, David Keefer got one back for the Wildcats with a goal at 15:52 to make it 5-3 with four minutes to play in regulation.

LSSU found the back of the empty net late in the game to finalize the scoring Saturday night.

The Wildcats' season comes to a close with a final record of 11-17-1 as they fall just short of an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as WCHA runners-up.

GOALS

• With less than a minute to play in the second, Andre Ghantous fired a shot top shelf for the Wildcats' first goal of the evening. The sophomore wasted no time on the man-advantage as it took him and his linemates just seven seconds to capitalize. AJ Vanderbeck and Michael Van Unen both earned assists on the tally.

• Off the face-off, AJ Vanderbeck ripped a shot off to cut the Lakers' lead to two-goals at 3:05 of the third period. Alex Frye, who won the draw, picked up the lone assist on the goal.

• David Keefer found the back of the net at 15:52 of the third, with an assist to Tim Erkkila.

KEY STATS

• The Wildcats had 59 attempted shots, including 28 on net. The team also blocked 12 shots in the contest, led by Ben Newhouse and Michael Van Unen who each had three. The two defensemen combined for 170 blocked shots this season as they ranked atop the nation in blocks, with Newhouse's 91 leading the NCAA and Van Unen's 79 second.

• Andre Ghantous was named third-star of the tournament as the forward picked up a power play goal Saturday night after leading the league in scoring through the regular season. In five games played this post-season, Ghantous had five points off three goals and two assists.

• AJ Vanderbeck, who scored once Saturday night while picking up an assist fired 10 shots off his stick, including five on net, leading the team in both categories. 

• The Wildcats look to return 19 student-athletes that dressed for the Championship game, including all three gaol-scorers Saturday night, for the 2021-22 season.

• Rico DiMatteo, who joined the team at the start of the new year, had a .909 save percentage in 14 games played for the Wildcats this season, and averaged 2.84 goals against.

• Three of the Wildcats' top-five scorers in 2019-20 hail from the sophomore class as Andre Ghantous, AJ Vanderbeck and Michael Van Unen all finished among the top-five in scoring this year.