The biggest highlight of Scott Balboni's first season as head coach of the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers may have been his team's 31 victories, which tied for second most in team history.

Or it could have been the Icers' four-game sweep of defending national champion Rhode Island or their appearance in the national championship game for the 10th consecutive year.

Those accomplishments moved down a rung on Monday, however, when Balboni was announced as the Div. I 2006-07 Coach of the Year by the American Collegiate Hockey Association.

"I was pretty shocked," Balboni said. "It was pretty unexpected, especially with me being in my first year."

Balboni, who led the No. 2 Icers to a 31-6-2 record and a runner-up finish in the national tournament during his inaugural season, was voted on by his coaching peers and ultimately beat out five others for the prestigious honor.

He will be officially given the award at the ACHA's Coach-of-the-Year Celebration in Florida on April 28.

The other nominees were Oklahoma's Larry Donovan, Liberty's Kirk Handy, West Chester's Mark Gonsalves, Washington and Jefferson's Peter Taglianetti, and Illinois' Chad Cassel -- all of whom Balboni thought could have easily been given the award.

"There were some other coaches out there that had some great years, too," Balboni said.

"We had a very good year, though. We had some big wins at the beginning of the year and did some things that we haven't done in a long time. Obviously, I didn't feel we completed the entire season the way we wanted to, losing in the finals, but I thought the year as a whole was a success."

For Balboni, a native of Salem, N.H., and a graduate of Providence College, his first season enjoyed achievement both on and off the ice.

Penn State, which had only one senior and 20 freshmen and sophomores on its roster, posted an impressive 7-1 mark against the top-four seeds in the national tournament and garnered the top spot in the final national ranking of the regular season. It also boasted one of the highest team GPAs during the fall semester of any Icers' team in recent memory, Balboni said.

"Overall, I think the year was a success from many avenues," Balboni said.

About a half-hour after learning of the news of his award, Balboni said he received an e-mail from former Icers' head coach and executive director of the Nittany Lion Club, Joe Battista, offering his congratulations.

Battista coached Penn State for 19 seasons and is the most successful coach in program history, having accumulated 512 career wins and six national championships. He received this award on two separate occasions.

"He told me how proud he was of me that I was able to take the program that he set up and run with it a little bit," Balboni said.

"Joe always taught me to have a classy organization whether you're winning or losing -- you win with class, and you lose with class," he added. "We're never going to be a team that has line brawls or gets into fights; we just don't do that here. That's one thing he taught me right from the start."

The news of Balboni's award caught junior forward Jaime Zimmel off guard, but he said it was not all that surprising.

"In a way, yes, it's surprising because he is a first-year coach," Zimmel said, "but in a way, no, it's not because I don't think any coach coming into what he did and doing what he did -- making everyone on the team, all 32 of us, believe in one system -- I don't think any other coach could have done that."