They came. They saw. They brought home the championship.

The Saint Louis University Billiken hockey squad defeated John Carroll and Marquette and played Mercyhurst to a tie, clinching the second annual Catholic College Tournament title on Sunday.

“It was a pretty huge weekend. It was good to compete at that level. The victory definitely gives us a big boost. We really came out to play and achieved what we wanted to in this tournament.” said coach John Bosch.

The Bills captured the title Sunday with a 4-1 victory over arch-rival Marquette University. The Bills took charge of the game early with Adam Brouk’s first period goal. The majority of the game was played on Marquette’s end. The Billikens aggressively forced the puck toward the opponent’s net, out-shooting the Eagles 49-18.

Sophomore Daniel Gauthier and freshman John Gissy added goals in the second period giving the Bills a 3-0 lead going into the final period.

Senior Dan Chadakhtzian finished the game with his tournament-leading sixth goal of the weekend in the final period.

Sunday’s victory was a personal milestone for Bosch who recorded his 200th career hockey win as a coach at the high school and college level.

“To see that tournament trophy outside the arena is a great feeling. It is a great way to keep this day in my memory. It is special for me as a coach, and it was special for the whole team to be a part of this victory,” Bosch said.

On Saturday the Bills played the tournament’s defending champion, Mercyhurst, to a 2-2 tie. It was a conservative battle between the top two teams in the tournament.

“It was a real cat-and-mouse game. Both teams were really worried about winning the tournament. We both knew that this game was for the championship. We played very tentative, but we were very disciplined.

“We could have taken some chances, but we knew the points meant so much. It was a good tie but, honestly, we were the better team,” Bosch said.

Down 1-0 since the middle of the first period, the Bills took a long time to get going offensively. With 14:47 remaining in the second period, Junior Matt Fischer fired the Bills’ first goal from behind the blue line.

The Bills fell behind again in the third period but Chadahkhtzian scored the equalizer with 6:34 remaining in the game. Freshman Mark Uvodich had a chance to score with 9.5 seconds remaining, but the Mercyhurst goalie ended SLU’s hopes for victory.

Friday night’s match with John Carroll turned out just the way the Billikens were hoping. SLU dominated all three periods as they trounced their way to an 11-1 victory.

The Bills jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first period. They never let up. The Billikens scored one more in the second and then capitalized six more times in the final period. Chadakhtzian led all scorers with three goals and Casey Martin put together another great game at goalie.

“We really put it to them. Our offense just became too high powered for them. We have started working on our positional play,” Bosch said.

“Our defense is coming together. It has gotten to the point where all our work is really paying off. We are coming together as a team. We are getting better,” Bosch said.

The tournament was played in a “Play by Period” format. This format allows the teams to earn points by the period. Every period won, the team receives two points. If a period is tied, the teams get one point.

“I really like this format. It makes you think about every period. When you break it down like this, it is really good because it makes the players go hard all game,” Bosch said.

Three Billikens made the all-tournament team. Gauthier, Martin and freshman defenseman John Malaney earned a spot on the team.

Martin gave up only three goals in the two games he played as goalie. His fantastic play over the weekend earned him tournament MVP honors.

The Billikens will travel to Champaign, Ill., to play two games against their rival, the University of Illinois, on Friday and Saturday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. The Bills will bring their 5-4-1 record into Champaign.

According to Bosch, this is an important weekend for the team.

“We are coming off a very rewarding tournament victory. Everyone played well. This type of play needs to continue this weekend.

“Playing Illinois is very important for the team because they are so close in distance. This is for bragging rights and I think we are up to the challenge.”