STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut men’s hockey team fell to Merrimack College, 4-1, in the consolation game of the Toyota UConn Hockey Classic on Friday afternoon. The Huskies are now 3-12-2 on the season with a 2-4-1 record in Atlantic Hockey, while the Warriors improve to 8-12-2 overall on the year.

Merrimack opened the scoring at 8:13 in the first as Bryan Schmidt capitalized on a power play opportunity with assists going to Jeff Caron and Brent Gough. UConn then answered with an extra-man tally of its own at the 11:48 mark. Sophomore Bill Magnuson (Rochdale, Mass.) netted his second of the year from classmate Scott McDougall (Mansfield, Mass.) to level the score at one.

The Warriors, however, then went on to score three unanswered goals to secure the win. Matt Johnson notched the eventual game winner, shorthanded, 13:02 into the second period from Steve Crusco and Scott Drewicki. Caron followed with a power-play goal at 14:31 in the stanza on a feed from Schmidt. Hank Carisio rounded out the scoring with his third of the year at 14:31 in the final period.

UConn freshman netminder Brad Smith (Detroit, Mich.) stopped 41 shots, one shy of his career best, and Jim Healey made 24 saves to pick up the win for Merrimack.

In the championship game of the Toyota UConn Hockey Classic, Brown won by a score of 5-2 over Holy Cross. Mike Meech tallied a goal and three assists to lead the Bears.

The Huskies continue their homestand with a 3:05 p.m. game on Sunday, Jan. 2, against Union College.