The Massachusetts hockey team honored its seniors on Friday afternoon after its shootout loss to Maine in its last game of the regular season.

No. 6 UMass (14-5-3, 14-5-3 HEA) celebrated six seniors with its postgame ceremonies: Philip Lagunov, Oliver Chau, George Mika, Matt Murray, transfer Carson Gicewicz and captain Jake Gaudet.

All the Minutemen stood along the blue line as each senior made his way down, one by one, embracing every coach and player along the way as a tribute video of their best moments at UMass played in the background.

“I thought the individual video highlights is always nice to look back on big goals the kids scored,” Carvel said after the game. “To me it’s important.”

Each of the seniors was greeted by a big hug from Carvel at the end of the line, where he gave them their framed pictures and spoke to them personally. And once everybody got through, all six gathered around to share a moment and picture together.

Due to the circumstances of the ongoing pandemic, the six families of the players were unfortunately not able to attend the ceremony in person. They did however provide personalized videos, which played alongside each player’s tribute video during the celebration.

“We tried to make it as good as we could for the kids. I feel for them, none of these kids have seen their parents in months,” Carvel said. “It would have been real nice if we could get parents here, cause that’s what the kids really want.”

While the seniors were not able to cap off their regular season with a win on Friday, a few were able to make an impact early in the first period. Facing a quick goal by the Black Bears, Gaudet fed his line mate and fellow senior Gicewicz to even the game at 1-1.

.@CGicewicz celebrating senior day by getting us on the board after Maine scored early. An assist to fellow senior Jake Gaudet on this one as well 👊#NewMass | #Flagship 🚩 pic.twitter.com/Z6yxLlwGGB

— UMass Hockey (@UMassHockey) March 5, 2021

Gicewicz would add an assist later in the game, and in total four seniors found their way to the score sheet, with Chau and Lagunov adding assists as well.

Although senior night looked a lot different this year, the Minutemen were able to have their moment as a team on the ice, and with the Hockey East and National tournaments still on the horizon, the seniors still have a lot of hockey left to play before their time in the UMass uniform is done.

Colin McCarthy can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @colinmccarth_DC.