Marrello has impact for Engineers
Former Albany Academy standout flourishing with ECAC playoffs coming up
Ottoville Leppanen made the trek to RPI from Finland, fellow freshman Jakub Lacka hails from Slovakia and goaltender Linden Marshall logged plenty of miles from British Columbia, Canada, to the Troy campus for his college hockey experience.
For Jake Marrello, the trip to RPI doesn’t involve the need for an airplane, or a boat. A car with a quartertank of gas was enough for Marrello’s parents to drop their son off at RPI when he arrived in 2016.
Marrello, a junior from Slingerlands, grew up playing in the Troyalbany hockey leagues before spending three years at Albany Academy, followed by one year at The Gunnery (Conn.) and a year of junior hockey on Long Island and is in his third year for the Engineers.
With the regular season coming to a close for RPI (10-19-3, 7-11-2) with this weekend’s homestand against Harvard and Dartmouth, Marrello is flourishing in a two-way role from his center position as the Engineers prepare for the ECAC playoffs.
Marrello, a business and management major, has blossomed since being moved to center and has become
a fixture on the Engineers’ penaltykill unit.
“His skill set is very high, his IQ is very high. He started to grow when we put him at center and left him alone,” Smith said. “I challenged him this year to use his feet more, to challenge defenders and the same on the penalty kill. I like him as the mayor of Slingerlands. He’s a real likable guy in the room, says and does the
right things but isn’t overly aggressive with his personality.”
Marrello, with a career-high four goals this season, has been centering a line which also features Brady Wiffen and Mike Gornall. Smith has used the trio in multiple ways.
“He’s with two guys now that will crash and bang in Gornall and Wiffen. It seems like there is real good chemistry there,” Smith said. “I’ve used them against other team’s top lines (defensively) and have used them to create offense. They are an all-purpose line and Marrello in the middle makes it go.”
Continuity has been the key to success for Marrello’s line.
“My line has been together for a while now,” Marrello said. “We’re playing well in the offensive zone and in the D-zone, it is good to have coach rely on your line in key situations.”
Playing close to home has its advantages, including your own cheering section at Houston Field House.
“It’s awesome, to have your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles come out for every game. I love it,” Marrello said.
Marrello’s mother, Lisa, was pleased when Jake picked RPI after prep school and juniors.
“As parents, we were very happy that he would play locally and we would get to go to every game,” Lisa Marrello said. “Hockey players are away at a young age. He had been away for a couple of years so it was nice that now he would be home.”
All of the early mornings and travel were worth it for Lisa Marrello, whose perspective on the process helped offset the commitment that comes with youth hockey.
“It was a big commitment. It is early mornings, especially when they are younger,” Lisa Marrello said. “We played like 75 games a year. We spent a lot of time on the road. It’s time that we had one-on-one time with him. It was almost better because we were in the car with him for hours. You are with your son and it is awesome.”
Sean Martin, a local freelance writer, is a frequent contributor to the Times Union