As the Cyclone Hockey season reaches the home stretch, it faces a number of emotional moments. This weekend will be the first.

When the Cyclones take on the Midland Warriors for the last series until the American Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament on March 6, the team will purpose the second game with honoring the nine seniors.

The senior class will be one of the largest that Cyclone Hockey has graduated in its history.

The nine seniors, led by captain Mike Dopko and assistant captains Nate Percy, Trevor Lloyd and Antti Helanto, have been described as the “core of the team.” With such a large class, it was imperative that the seniors start to lead the young Cyclones. Coach Jason Fairman said that they have done that and much more.

They have helped the team through “thick and thin,” said senior goaltender Scott Ismond.

“We have a great group of guys,” Ismond continued. “It just speaks volumes of the guys in that locker room. These are relationships that I won’t forget 15 [to] 20 years down the road. It’s really emotional. You think back to your first game and all of the highlights of your career.”

As they start to reflect on their careers at Iowa State, the seniors know that emotions may run high as they do on most senior nights.

“I’m sure that this weekend will be emotional for them,” Fairman said. “Every hockey player goes through it at some point.”

But it won’t be all emotions, as the team still has to focus on Midland. Midland is an ACHA Division I team, which Fairman said won’t go down without a fight. The Midland team has a meager 10-27 record, but has shown it is capable of competing with talented teams.

“They’ve had a few close games with good teams and they have beaten a few good teams, so you never know,” said senior Seth Serhienko. “Hopefully we can get a few goals and get some momentum going for the national tournament.”

To add another layer to the matchup, the Cyclones are returning from a disappointing loss in the first round of the CSCHL Tournament after an overtime defeat against Illinois.

To recover from that loss and prepare for the national tournament, Fairman said he is going to give some new players a shot and, in turn, rest some of the overly tired ones.

“Obviously you want to stay sharp and all that,” Fairman said about the game plan. “But we have some new guys that are getting called up from the Division III squad that we want to take a look at for the future. When next week comes around, it’s business as usual.”

Cyclone Hockey will take on the Midland Warriors at 8 p.m. Feb. 27 and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28. Both games are at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.