The men’s ice hockey team ended the 2009-2010 season with momentum, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2010 Atlantic Hockey Association playoffs before losing to the league’s top-ranked team, Rochester Institute of Technology, in overtime.

With nine of the team’s top 10 scorers returning, starting goaltender Garrett Bartus entering his second year, and a group of speedy recruits arriving, head coach Bruce Marshall is optimistic about his team.

“We think we’re making the right strides,” he says. “We brought a lot of new kids in that we think can help us on the offensive side. We’re hoping we can make the strides we’ve wanted to make over the last few years but have fallen short of.”

Marshall will rely on the leadership of his eight seniors to move his team to improve on last year’s 7-23-7 record, particularly forwards Andrew Olson (9 goals, 10 assists last year) and Jason Krispel (3 goals, 12 assists) on offense, and defender Stevie Bergin on defense.

“All of the seniors feel they’ve left a lot undone and they don’t want to leave like that,” says Marshall. “I think they really want to walk out of here feeling they’ve taken the next step for the program.”

The challenges Marshall and his coaching staff outlined for the team at the end of last year for each student athlete to improve were taken to heart.

“We’ve seen a lot improvement in guys in their strength and core conditioning that hopefully will allow them to have a little bit more success than they’ve had,” he says. “I think as a group they’ve responded to the challenges we’ve set for them. Collectively, we all have to make a difference. One of the biggest things is these kids were very resilient last year. We learned a lot about each other that allowed us to win the first playoff series and then take a team that went to the Frozen Four and really challenge them to the end. I think they’re ready to be committed to everything that has to be done.”

The early part of the Huskies’ schedule will provide a quick answer to how much the team has improved, with three road games against teams ranked in the Top 30 last year (Maine, Merrimack, and Union College) and back-to-back road games against RIT. The season began Oct. 9 at Maine.

Marshall says opening up against Maine is like football going in and playing Michigan. “We don’t try to veer away from challenges. We try to give the kids the best experience they can have, but we also want to be successful. We like the nucleus of kids we have.”

Krispel and Olson will be joined on the front line by sophomore Sean Ambrosie (7 goals, 11 assists) and senior Justin Hernandez (8 goals, 5 assists). On the defensive side, Bergin will team with AHA All-Rookie Team member Alex Gerke, a sophomore, and junior Christ Waterstradt, who in addition to their defensive work combined for 10 points on four goals and six assists. Starting goaltender Garrett Bartus, who joined the Huskies midway through last season, returns in the net and looks to improve on his 3.26 goals against average and .900 save percentage.

Marshall expects to get an injection of speed and scoring from several new Huskies with extensive junior hockey experience. Forwards Rui Encarnaco, Brant Harris, Billy Latta, Cole Schneider, and Jordan Sims will see action, he says.

“We’re looking to sprinkle a lot of those guys into the line-up,” Marshall says. “These guys all played junior hockey and all of a sudden you’ve got the knapsack on your back going to classes, getting up at 7 o clock and lifting weights. There’s always that period of adjustment, but there’s always that learning curve.”

One of the highlights of the season will be the Feb. 13 game against Sacred Heart University, an outdoor doubleheader with the women’s ice hockey team at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. The event is part of the “Whalers Hockey Fest,” a 10-day series of outdoor games between professional, college, prep school, and high school teams.

“It’s going to be great for our program, when you think of the schools who have played outdoors like Boston College and Wisconsin,” says Marshall. “The game is important to us. It’s worth 2 points, whether it’s indoors, outdoors, or on the moon.”

For the men’s ice hockey schedule, go to the Athletics website.