YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Scott Balboni trotted off the ice Saturday afternoon and emphatically raised one finger into the air.

As his team bolted to the locker room, the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers head coach mouthed "one more" to a rowdy, blue-and-white-clad crowd that made the 180-mile trip from Happy Valley.

One more win is all that separates No. 1-seeded Penn State from collecting its eighth national championship after it defeated the No. 12 Delaware Blue Hens, 5-2, in the semifinals of the ACHA National Tournament at the Ice Zone.

Since winning its last title in 2003, Penn State has three straight championship games without capturing the crown.

The Icers, who have advanced to this far in each of the last 10 years, will get yet another shot at that elusive title in the final against the No. 11 Oakland Grizzlies at 4 p.m.

But, for senior goaltender Chris Matteo, Sunday afternoon cannot come fast enough.

"I want to get to tomorrow as soon as possible. I would just like to play right now if I could," Matteo said yesterday, after making 35 saves against the Blue Hens.

"I’m thinking to myself that we have a good team, we've certainly been through a lot of adversity, and this team has got the most character of any team that I’ve been on in the last four years, so it makes me feel very confident," he added.

Matteo may also feel confident after the offensive production his teammates provided in Saturday's win.

In the first two rounds of the tournament, Penn State scored just two goals in each game – more than two below their regular-season average of 4.25. On Saturday, however, the Icers had no trouble lighting the lamp.

After falling behind 1-0 on a Delaware power-play goal 15 minutes into the first period, junior defenseman Keith Jordan and sophomore forward Jaime Zimmel wasted little time in putting Penn State back on top before intermission.

Jordan and Zimmel each scored a goal less than one minute apart to give the Icers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

"The only difference today is that we played harder than we did in the first two games," Zimmel said yesterday. "The opportunities we had in the first two games we didn't capitalize on like we did in this game."

Sophomore defenseman Andrew Magulick, senior forward Mike McMullen and junior forward Matt Schwartz added a goal each in the later two periods to help Penn State put Delaware away for the seventh consecutive time in the last two seasons.

Today's national championship game will pit the Icers against the Grizzlies for the second time this year. Oakland won a Feb. 18 meeting, 4-1, against a Penn State team that rested many of its usual players.

The Grizzlies, who are in their first year of competition at the ACHA Div. I-level after winning national titles in 2004 and 2006 as an ACHA Div. II powerhouse, reached the final after registering a thrilling 3-2 victory against No. 3 Illinois.

For the Icers, however, the opponent doesn't change their mentality or confidence.

"This has been our goal all season," McMullen said of reaching the title game. "We’re back. This is where we want to be and we have to do it. We're not going to fall short this year."