Acquiring a head coach was very beneficial for the NIU hockey club.

As a result, it won the Illinois-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Association Championship on Saturday.

“We had a problem pulling together as a team,” captain Jim Kopka said. “Having a coach around made a difference.”

The Huskies finished the regular season at 14-6, which placed them second in the league behind DePaul.

It was the first championship for the Huskies since the 1986-87 season.

In Friday’s first-round game against Wheaton College, the Huskies held a one-goal lead throughout the first two periods but allowed the tying goal midway through the third. Wheaton struck again, to take a 5-4 lead with six minutes left.

NIU never quit, though, as Ralph Pike tied the game with his second goal of the night with two minutes left, forcing overtime.

With three minutes left in overtime, NIU’s Steve Hacker scored the winning goal, for a 6-5 NIU victory.

Head coach Greg Vanco decided to follow percentages for Saturday’s championship match by starting Jason Boledovich in goal rather than Vanco. Boledovich had beaten DePaul 6-5 earlier in the season.

Once again, the Huskies held the lead through most of the contest but were unable to put the game away.

Leading 3-1 in the third period, NIU gave up two unanswered goals.

But Shawn Brown’s goal with six minutes left gave NIU the lead and served as the eventual game winner. Nick Ranieri, who tallied three goals for the weekend, scored an empty-net goal late in the game to ensure NIU of the championship.

Pike scored another two goals Saturday and led the Huskies in the playoffs with four.

“We realized all season that we can’t win short-handed,” said the captain. “We had only six penalties total for the weekend.”

“We were on a mission,” said Kopka. “We came in as the underdog, and we showed them who is top dog.”