With great effort, CSUN’s hockey team won their first game at home of the season on Saturday, Oct. 14 against CSU Long Beach, with a winning score of 9-3.
The Matadors wasted no time by aggressively seeking early dominance. They were already taking shots at the net just 21 seconds into the game. CSUN forward Luc Ghantos struck first, putting CSUN on the board at 15:57, with just four minutes and three seconds into the game.
A minor penalty against defenseman Tyler Belthius at 12:29 presented an incredible scoring opportunity for CSUN, which they seized at 11:57, extending their lead to 2-0. The Matadors demonstrated early game dominance when they showcased remarkable teamwork, with captain and forward Geno Norraik netting their third goal just 50 seconds after the second.
During the last 5:19 of the first period, defenseman Easton Laird scored the first goal for his team, making the score 3-1. At 3:49, a major penalty was given to CSUN’s alternate captain and defenseman Jake Dusterhoff, which led into the second period and no goals came during that penalty. There was an exceptional performance by goalie Jacob Chandler.
Forward Kyle Warwick extended CSUN’s lead to 4-1 during the second period at 10:52. A turning point occurred at 5:16 when LBS forward Tristan Winterscheid received a minor penalty. This moment highlighted CSUN’s improved teamwork, leading to their fifth goal by Dusterhoff, during the powerplay. The closing seconds of the second period saw a goal made by forward Isaac Anderson.
Both teams received minor penalties at the start during the final period. A roughing penalty for both teams occurred at 12:06, resulting in goals for both LBS and CSUN, bringing the score to 7-2. CSUN continued to demonstrate strong teamwork and netted their eighth goal at 10:21 with a score from forward Evan Lerman. LBS managed to secure their third and final goal of the night shortly after. A penalty was given to the Matadors with just 2:37 left in the game. Lerman took the disadvantage into his own hands and scored a shorthanded goal.
However, on Oct. 20, the Matadors had quite a different outcome against UCLA. This game was more challenging, yet CSUN showed up with team effort throughout the game.
During the first period, forward Ryan Latz scored at 18:14. CSUN demonstrated great teamwork and neither power play resulted in goals when UCLA got two power play opportunities during the first period. There were great saves by goaltender Seth Miszkiewicz.
The game got more challenging when UCLA tied the game at 10:32 of the second period. Both teams defended themselves against goals and showed their capabilities at working together despite the challenges of the penalties and the pushing and shoving from both teams.
During the final period of the game, UCLA took the lead at 16:04, which surged the intensity of the game. UCLA then scored their third goal of the night, which infuriated CSUN. Tensions flared as both UCLA’s defenseman Geoffrey Xu and CSUN’s defenseman Dusterhoff received a two-minute minor penalty for roughing. No goals resulted from either penalties, but CSUN took their goalie out, and at 3:04, UCLA’s defenseman John Ilvento scored an empty net goal.
More fights started erupting during the last 2:22 minutes of the game, and UCLA concluded the game with the last goal of the night at 1:08.
