Nick Fabbrini’s goals were clear from the moment was hired as the Illinois hockey team’s head coach.

“Obviously it’s our goal to win the CSCHL (Central States Collegiate Hockey League) regular season, the CSCHL playoffs and the national championship,” Fabbrini said before the season in August. “We’ve got as good of a shot as anyone.”

In his first year as coach replacing Chad Cassel, Fabbrini’s squad has seen mixed results, though the team is in a much better position to achieve its goals than last season.

Illinois hockey was a disappointment in Cassel’s farewell tour of 2011-12, as it missed the ACHA tournament altogether.

While inconsistency has kept the Illini (14-7-2) from becoming a truly elite team this season, they have shown the ability to compete with anyone on the ice.

Fabbrini’s debut in the regular season on the bench was a bit rough, as the Illini lost to Michigan State in penalty shots, a team that Illinois had beaten in nine of its previous 10 games.

Illinois got hot after the initial speed bump, peeling off six consecutive wins, including a 3-0-0 showing at the ACHA Showcase. In an atmosphere that will be similar to the national tournament in March, the Illini played some of their best hockey of the year and swept three games in three days, including a 5-1 thrashing of now-ranked No. 7 Davenport.

“Davenport is one of the best teams we’ll face all year,” Fabbrini said after the win. “Winning 5-1 over a team of that caliber shows that we have what it takes to be one of the top teams in the nation.”

From that point, though, the team struggled to find any consistency, particularly on Saturday games. Illinois dropped six of its next seven matches on Saturdays following its performance in the Showcase.

The highlight of the season thus far was the 5-0 beating that the Illini handed to then-ranked No. 2 Ohio on Nov. 2. Illinois had come into the week extremely confident and came out and backed it up on the ice by handing the Bobcats their first loss in regulation.

“This is right up there in my top-three wins of my career,” goaltender Nick Clarke said after pitching the shutout. “This one was huge, especially at home. That was the biggest crowd we’ve had all year. The fans were into it, it was awesome.”

Coming into the semester break after a sweep of No. 24 Indiana, No. 8 Illinois is looking to take its game to the next level after the layoff. With series still to come against No. 2 Robert Morris and a rematch with No. 9 Lindenwood — which saw the two teams devolve into an all-out brawl in their last meeting — the Illini will have plenty of chances to move up in the rankings before the ACHA tournament.

Fabbrini won a national championship in his first year as a player at Illinois. He would like to do the same in his first year of coaching.

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.