Champions find a way.

That's been Penn State men's ice hockey coach Joe Battista's motto all through the Icers' injury-plagued season.

It's obvious now that his team followed his advice.

For the second consecutive season — and third time in four years — the Icers won the ACHA national championship tournament last Monday night in Tucson, Ariz. by downing Delaware 7-2.

"It's funny because people keep telling me this one was easy," Battista said. "Believe me, it wasn't easy."

The Icers made it look easy though by pounding their opponents by a collective score of 28-10. Even more impressive was Penn State's special teams, which capitalized on 59 percent (13 goals in 22 chances) of their power play opportunities while smothering their opponents on 24 of 29 power play chances.

"Our special teams were definitely the key to us being successful in the tournament," Battista said. "We really put it all together at the right time."

The No. 2 Icers began the tournament by cruising to a 6-2 victory over No. 10 Kent State. Justin DePretis, Greg Held, Josh Mandel and Paul Crooker all netted goals in the first 12 minutes of the game.

DePretis tacked on a second and Bobby Pate knocked home a goal to finish off the scoring.

"Penn State is always one of the top teams in the country and this season is no different," Kent State coach Chris Wilk said before the game.

The Icers next drew Arizona — the tournament host — in front of a raucous crowd of 5,000.

"That was the pivotal game because we sat there and watched all the top seeds get upset throughout the day," Battista said. "Eastern Michigan lost to Delaware, Ohio lost to Iowa State and Minot State lost to Illinois so three of the top four seeds were all out when we took the ice."

Early on it looked as if the Icers were going to become the fourth.

Arizona jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and really energized the Icecat faithful.

But after playing to a 3-3 tie at the intermission, the Icers quickly extinguished any thoughts of an upset by scoring two goals in 15 seconds early in the second period.

Kyle Jordan went on to collect his first career hat trick en route to the Icers 8-3 win.

New team, same story in the semifinals.

The Icers made quick work of Illinois, dominating the Fighting Illini 7-3.

"I just felt that we weren't going to give up a lot of goals to Illinois," Battista said. "The key to defeating them was just getting a few goals because we knew their offense wasn't that good."

Next up was the title game against Delaware, which shocked top-seeded Eastern Michigan and defeated No. 8 Michigan-Dearborn in overtime to win their pool.

The Blue Hens then surprised No. 5 Iowa State 7-2 in the semifinals.

That set the stage for a "student vs. teacher" showdown in the championship because Delaware coach Josh Brandwene had played for Battista during his college playing career.

"I probably watched more tape and put more time into making a game plan for this game," Battista said. "I know Josh really well and I knew he was going to try to pull something out of his sleeve."

Whatever plan Battista whipped up obviously worked. Alon Eizenman — who was named tournament MVP — and Mike Blevins put in first period goals to give the Icers a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.

Paul Crooker scored 30 seconds into the second period and Glenn Zuck added a goal eight minutes later to give Penn State a 4-1 lead. DePretis tickled the twine in the third period while Crooker and Eizenman each netted power play goals to bring home the Murdoch Cup.

"All these championships have been different," Battista said. "Last year we won on goaltending and in 1998 we had an unstoppable team.

"You don't get used to it though. Anyone who wins a championship knows how special it is and knows how tough it is to get there. It's always a special achievement to seal the deal."