The Daily Campus

Issue date: 1/21/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Matt Lin Marcello Ranallo handles the puck during the Huskies 6-3 win over Army on Oct. 25.

Heading into winter break, men's hockey coach Bruce Marshall was unsure of what to expect when his team resumed play three weeks later against then-conference leader Air Force. He said the break could help his road-weary team recover from 10 of its 15 games away from Storrs, or it could do away with any momentum and fluidity the Huskies had gained to that point.

The 2-2 tie would turn out to be one of the few highlights from a seven-game stretch where the Huskies went 1-5-1.

Despite the record (UConn is now 5-16-1 over all and 4-9-1 in conference), Marshall was able to find positives - mainly in the way they played against Air Force.

After the 2-2 tie, the two teams met again and despite jumping out to 2-0 first period lead, the Falcons came back to come away with a 4-3 win.

"We played some pretty good games over Christmas, specifically against Air Force." Marshall said. "They were first in the conference when we played them first and they've since fallen to second."

After the loss to Air Force, UConn went on to what may be its worst three games of the season. It resulted in three losses, two to RIT and one to Sacred Heart, where they were outscored a combined 18-8.

Most disappointing to Marshall was the 6-1 loss to Sacred Heart after the team had played so well against Air Force.

"We did not put forth a good effort against Sacred Heart and we kind of laid an egg against them," Marshall said.

Though the wins were not coming, Marshall never questioned his team's effort.

"Their work ethic and their attitude is always there," Marshall said. "They're taking control of the situation and there are definitely positives with the work the guys are putting in we just need to do a few things differently."

In order to move forward from an admittedly disappointing stretch of games, Marshall said his team cannot look backwards.

"We have to block out the negatives and we need to look forward and focus on what we can do," Marshall said.

In the midst of an eight game winless streak, the Huskies needed something to go their way and in the last game before classes began, it did.

UConn headed into the final minute against Bentley down 1-0 and desperate for a win, and with 35 seconds remaining stand out freshman Mercello Ranallo scored his fifth goal of the year to send the goal to overtime.

In the extra period it appeared as though the Huskies would be happy to settle for a tie after a penalty by Chris Ochoa left them a man down. Despite being shorthanded, Matt Miller scored his first goal of the season to give UConn the win.

Marshall hopes the dramatic win will lead to some much needed momentum as the Huskies head into the remainder of their schedule.

"Hopefully we stay focused and this will serve as a springboard for us," Marshall said.

The Huskies are next in action this weekend on the road against a good Mercyhurst team.

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