Sophomore Andre Ghantous was named Forward of the Week, while freshman goalie Rico DiMatteo earned Rookie of the Week honors.

Ghantous had a goal and four assists against the Beavers, which led the team and the league in points and assists. He was second in both categories nationally last week and his plus-4 rating was also a team and league high. This is Ghantous’ first award of the season and second of his career.

DiMatteo has been a pleasant surprise for the Wildcats as he was just called up to the roster right before the start of the second semester. He’s now started three games and is 3-0, including two wins over Bemidji last weekend.

During the series against the Beavers, he made 47 saves for a .940 save percentage and a 1.46 goals against average. The save percentage was fourth best in the conference and first among rookies, while his 47 saves were good enough for third in the league. He also led all WCHA rookies in goals-against average and was fourth overall. Additionally, his total saves and GAA were fifth most among rookies nationally.

Rico DiMatteo

NMU has a busy week at home, playing four games at the Berry Events Center in six days. The Wildcats host Alabama-Huntsville in a makeup series at 4:30 p.m. today and 7 p.m. Wednesday followed by another originally scheduled home series against Bowling Green State this weekend, 6 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.