George Tselios could not hold back the tears anymore. He would not let the the feeling of winning a title for his teammates and the fact that it was his last game hold him back.

The NIU hockey club defeated Palmer 3-1 on Saturday to win the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association title, its first conference title since the 1997-98 season.

Tselios, 30, scored the final goal with 1:30 remaining. For Tselios, he could not ask for a better way to end his college career.

“You couldn’t ask for anything better,” Tselios said. “It is a great way to end a college career. It brings tears to your eyes. I felt relieved.”

Tselios knew from the first day the team stepped on the ice, that the season was going to be magical. The Huskies finished in second place in the MICHA with a 10-3-1 conference record and a 17-3-1 overall record.

“This is a bunch of unique men,” said NIU coach Bill Thorn. “I hate to see this end. This has been a very special season. It has been a blast for me. These players come from all different walks of life and this has been special to be a part.”

Tselios said the team had something that was missing from last year’s group: togetherness. Because everyone on the team was friends, they were able to accomplish everything they did this season, Tselios said.

“We hung out more than usual,” he said. “We had a feeling for one another. And the coaching had something to do with it as well. They kept us in line. The team respected them for that.”

The Huskies had to go into the playoffs without starting goaltender Dave Grossman, who was third in the MICHA in save percentage with 88.7 percent and was replaced by J.P. Michaels. Grossman was out because of an illness.

Tselios called Michaels’ performance unbelievable. Michaels knew the could not mess up in playoffs and that was his big chance.

“There is no way you cannot be nervous,” Michaels said. “We had the confidence that we were going to win.”

“It was sweet,” said Eric DiCarlo. “He played amazing. After that first goal, we got things going.”

The first round was not an easy task for the Huskie club team, splitting the two-game series this season. The Huskies shutout UMSL 4-0 to go onto the MICHA championship game against Palmer.

Before this season, NIU struggled against Palmer, losing all its matches in the last three seasons. This season, the Huskies won all three meetings against Palmer, scoring a combined 15 goals in the three games and allowing only 2 goals.

“We set our own precedent,” Michaels said. “People will start to look at NIU as a powerhouse.”

“The bottom line, on the day that you win a championship, you become immortal,” Tselios added. “People might not remember who was on that team, but they will remember there was something special.”

Despite winning the championships, the Huskies will not go on to the American Collegiate Hockey Association tournament.

Tselios could not believe that the best teams from each conference would not be represented, calling the voting system “a crock”.

“We got screwed out of nationals,” he said. “Even from Day 1, we were destined to be champions and go to nationals. The fact that we came out on top of our conference, we should have gotten an automatic bid to the nationals. There are teams up north that are just average and are playing at the higher level. It is all biased and political. We got the short end of the stick.”