Saturday night was an emotional one for CSUN ice hockey seniors. Prior to hosting UC Santa Barbara, the Matadors celebrated their senior night, which consisted of a celebration of the senior players, as well as their parents.

Seniors were greeted with posters filled with some of their favorite photos from throughout their lives. Players also got the chance to share a special moment with their parents on the ice by presenting them with flowers.

Reflecting back on his journey, Geno Norraik, senior and captain of the team, shared his heartfelt sentiments: “It was super emotional for me. I grew up playing hockey since I was three, so to kind of have it end after all these years is pretty special,” he said. “My parents have been through it since the beginning, so it was really nice to give it to them,” Norraik finished with.

“It’s been an honor being a Matador, I’ll tell you that. I came into school not liking hockey so much. Just through competitiveness, but I came back here, and I fell in love with the game again. So I’m super grateful for the Matadors and JP Gale, and I can’t thank them enough,” Norraik said.

Regardless of the 4-2 loss against UCSB, the Matadors are heading towards the playoffs.

The Matadors will be taking on Loyola Marymount University in the West Coast Hockey Conference playoffs at the Cube in Santa Clarita on Friday, Feb. 9, with the puck slated to drop at 11 a.m.

“We’ve played LMU already three times this year, so we kind of already know what their strengths and weaknesses are,” said general manager Sean Kushner. “And I think, ultimately, just sort of capitalizing on the challenges early in the year, with injuries and such, we didn’t have a full squad in some of those games. So, I think looking at this week of everyone there and healthy, it should be a good matchup.”

Updates about the game and streaming information will be posted on the team’s Instagram account, @csunicehockey.