One more chance.

With last hockey season ending in heartbreak, the Illini senior class has just one more shot at the national title.

The Illini will enter the 2013-14 season with eight returning seniors, three more than last year.

Illinois is already a team seen across the ACHA as legitimate contenders for both conference and national championships, but with the return of a strong, veteran class, the Illini are looking more and more like a force to be reckoned with.

Team captain Austin Bostock will look to cement his legacy with the Illinois hockey program in his senior year after putting up 39 points in 40 games last season, while senior goaltender Nick Clarke will look to pick up where he left off in net. The second team All-American posted a 22-10-2 record in 2012-13, behind a defense lead by first team All-CSCHL Mike Evans, who will also be returning for his final season.

After finishing the season ranked No. 7 in the nation with a 26-12-2 record, Illinois’ dreams of taking home a national championship were crushed when they fell in the quarterfinals to No. 2 Arizona State, 3-1. But to head coach Nick Fabbrini, the heartbreaking finish to last season is a tough lesson learned that the second-year coach said just adds more fuel for the fire.

“At the beginning of the year last year, we didn’t know what we were capable of as a group,” Fabbrini said. “As the year went on, the guys started to realize that we are one of the top teams in the country.”

But with each new year comes new players and thus, a slightly new team.

The Illini have already added three defensive recruits to the roster and expect to add up to six or seven more players once tryouts begin on Aug. 26.

Cody von Rueden is the team’s biggest recruit during the offseason, turning down multiple offers from D-I and D-III schools to play for Illinois, according to Fabbrini. And the new defenseman’s hunger for an ACHA National Championship is perfectly aligned with Fabrinni’s mentality.

“The main goal I have for this season is to help bring back a national championship trophy to Champaign, and expect nothing less,” von Rueden said in a press release earlier this summer.

The Illini also added defensemen Austin Zima and Will Nunez — who played two years with CSCHL rival Robert Morris — to this season’s roster, filling three empty defensive spots left from last year’s graduating class of defensemen.

Coach Fabbrini said he isn’t worried about how the newcomers will fit in and is confident his veteran team will help the new players mature quickly over the season.

“I expect our (seniors) to really step up this year and take on more of a leadership role,” Fabbrini said. “We need them to do that.”

While last season ended in disappointing fashion the Illini, Fabbrini has his sights set on defending the conference title and bringing home the school’s first national championship since 2008.

“From my experience, the teams at Illinois that have done the best have always been the ones with strong senior classes,” Fabbrini said. “And this year, our senior class is shaping up to be pretty strong.”

Sean can be reached at [email protected] and @Neumannthehuman.