ARTESIA, Calif. - The No. 13 ranked Matadors got back to what they have done a majority of the season Saturday night using a five goal first period to dominate West Coast Hockey Conference rival Cal State Fullerton 10-2.

     Junior Nik Giers opened the scoring at 12:22 beating Scott Baba with a wicked wrist shot from the left circle. Junior Quentin Abaya doubled the lead at 7:25 finishing off a nice passing play with senior Eli Berengut. It was graduate student Andre Ramirez and freshman Geno Norraik's turn to pot one on a shorthanded 2-on-1 at 5:59. Norraik fed Ramirez, he turned on the jets and beat Baba with a wrist shot. It was Ramirez's second shorthanded goal of the season and his third career one. At 3:40 senior Cameron Rorick made it 4-0. Finally at 2:59 junior Jaime Velasquez fired a slap shot from the high slot to make it 5-0.

     The Titans ran into penalty trouble late in the first and Norraik made them pay with a 5-on-3 power play goal 37 seconds into the middle frame. Both of Norraik's goals have been on the power play. Right at the halfway point of the game Rorick scored his second with another beautiful wrist shot from the left circle also on the power play to make it 7-0. It was Rorick's team leading seventh goal on the man advantage. Fullerton finally got in the game at 8:51 when Grant Normand took advantage of a turnover in the high slot. But the Matadors got the goal back to end the period once again on the power play. Junior DJ Howell deflected in a Giers point shot.

     James Hayton narrowed the gap to 8-2 at 14:40 on the power play but that's as close as the Titans got. Freshman Zach Carnes scored at 11:00 and junior John Michael Laurin finished things off on the power play at 4:15.

     There were several post whistle scrums and lots of minor penalties were handed out as a result as well as a couple of ten minute misconducts were called on Fullerton. CSUN finished 4-for-9 on the power play while the Titans went 2-for-4.

     Senior Brandon Kalvoda picked up the win playing the first period. Kalvoda now has a record of 5-4-0-1 and made six saves. Freshman Jack Titter played the final two periods and made seven saves.

     CSUN swept Fullerton and has won three straight against the Titans dating back to last seasons overtime thriller in the semifinals of the WCHC playoffs.

     The final week of the regular season is coming up. The Matadors play their last two conference games against UC Santa Barbara Friday and Long Beach State Saturday in Lakewood. The top three seeds for the playoffs will for sure be CSUN, Loyola Marymount and Long Beach. The Matadors need one more win to secure a first round bye and they must win both games next week to secure the No. 1 seed.