Boudrow’s prowess powers Jumbos

Hockey team wins nine of first ten

by NEIL TAYLOR

Daily Editorial Board

            Leading the Jumbos to a blazing 9-1 start to the season, junior Jason Boudrow is also chasing after another goal, the national scoring title. Entering last night’s game, Boudrow sat atop the ECAC Northeast and the Division III national leader board in scoring, with 40 points in only ten games. With 16 goals and 24 assists (four ppg), Boudrow’s average is three points higher than any other player in the country, despite the fact that Tufts has played significantly fewer games than any other team.

            His most productive game of the season, a seven-point effort against Assumption on Jan. 11, also helped him win ECAC Northeast Player of the Week. Since coming back from winter break, Boudrow has been on a tear, tallying 14 points in just three games, with an even seven goals and seven assists. The Somerville native has scored or assisted on all but five of Tufts goals over that span.

            “He averages four points a game. He’s a great player and he’s a big key to our team,” senior tri-captain Scott Hayes said.

            Boudrow is currently dominating the ECAC Northeast conference, leading players from 18 teams in various offensive categories. His 40 overall points are 12 higher than the second-best scorer, Johnson and Wales freshman Chris Thurman. He also leads the conference in goals, assists, power play points (19), and power play goals (9).

            Opposing teams have had a difficult time defending Boudrow, whose speed and stick work make him almost impossible to cover. So far, no strategy has been successful, as Boudrow has scored at least one point in every game this season.

            “Not only is he leading the league in scoring, but he also has the will to win that we need,” senior tri-captain Natan Obed said. “He’s a great competitor.”

            Perhaps Boudrow’s most telling statistic is his lofty assist total, showing that he has no problem dishing out the puck to an open teammate. Because of advanced scouting, some teams have simply assigned a player to shadow Boudrow for the entire game, not allowing him as much open ice in which to maneuver.

            “In the first half of the season, people were shadowing him, and he would pass it off, and someone else would score,” senior Justin Picone said. “Right now, no one can stop Boudrow.”

            As a result of the pressure Boudrow puts on defenders, his entire line has benefited, and both Obed and freshman Pat Byrne are having stellar seasons as well. Obed currently stands seventh in the conference in scoring, with eight goals and 13 assists on the year.

            “I don’t think he’s a selfish player,” Obed said. “He creates opportunities. Because of his one on one moves and his puck handling skills, he makes room for us to score.”

            Byrne, who has 15 points (11 goals, four assists) is third among all conference freshman in scoring and sixth in the conference in goals. In fact, Byrne received conference Rookie of the Week honors for last week’s play, when he racked up three goals and two assists.

            “Boudrow is no more important than anyone else on the team, though, because we are team oriented,” Hayes said. “He’s having a really good year. Some teams throw someone on him and shadow him, but he’s used to that. It makes his whole line do better.”

            As a freshman, Boudrow led the conference in scoring with 55 points, but was ineligible to play last season. With 40 points so far this season, Boudrow is closing in on 100 career points, averaging 2.79 points per game over his collegiate career, and, more importantly, 4.43 points per game in conference play

Jumbos back in stride after loss to Wesleyan

Defense still working to match offense

by NEIL TAYLOR

Daily Editorial Board

            After a torrid 7-0 fall season, where every puck seemed to bounce its way, the last thing the men’s hockey team wanted was a vacation. And unfortunately the break did cool the team off a bit, as the Jumbos lost their return to the ice against Wesleyan on Jan 9. The 7-6 shootout against the future NESCAC rival pitted Tufts against their toughest competition of the year.

            “We were definitely rusty coming off of the long break,” senior tri-captain Natan Obed said. “It’s tough to go from playing every day to having a month off. Wesleyan is a decent team, but they are definitely a team that we should beat.”

            Entering the game, Tufts’ defense was leading the ECAC Northeast in fewest goals allowed, but the speedy Cardinals were able break through the zone and find the net over and over again.

            “We just didn’t play good defense,” senior tri-captain Scott Hayes said. “There were a couple of defense lapses, and it lead to some bad breaks. We scored six goals, so the offense was there — we just let up defensively. They were mistakes we couldn’t make against a team like that.”

            “Wesleyan can score, they have decent goaltending, but there is nothing that overpowers us,” Obed said.  “We are not intimidated by the NESCAC teams. The league we are in now [ECAC Northeast] is physically tougher, so we have very good stick-handling skills.”

            The loss was disheartening, as it snapped a seven-game winning streak, and showed that the Jumbos, who were ranked 12th in the nation entering the game, were in fact mortal.

            Next on the slate was a Jan. 11 showdown against a struggling Assumption team, which entered the game having scored only 21 goals during the entire season, compared to the Jumbos’ 57. With the Jumbos’ defense still not clicking, Assumption actually gave Tufts a run for its money, with the score tied 4-4 at the end of the second period. Clearly not on the top of his game, freshman goalkeeper Ben Crapser was pulled from the net during an Assumption power play and was replaced with senior Alex Scerbo. Scerbo held his ground in the face of the Assumption attack, and the Jumbos escaped with an 8-5 win.

            “Scerbo came in and had some big saves,” defenseman, senior Justin Picone said.

            “Crapser is a great goalie for us, and everyone will have a bad night at some point,” Obed added. “He is doing fine, and the team has great confidence in Scerbo.”

            During the victory, junior center Jason Boudrow tallied seven points (three goals, four assists), and currently leads all of Division III in scoring. Despite Boudrow’s third-period heroics, which prevented what would have been an embarrassing loss, the team was discouraged about its sloppy play against a weak opponent.

            “In the Assumption game, we were the better team, but we struggled,” Picone said. “In the first two games, we had defensive lapses. The second half of the year is like a whole new season. Any momentum you had is lost.”

            The first two games left some serious doubts in the Jumbos’ minds, as their previously impenetrable goalie gave up 12 goals in two games, after only relinquishing 15 in the previous seven games. After a day of practice, the Jumbos finally returned to typical form, in the 5-2 thumping of Western New England College on Jan 13. Crapser proved that his performance against Assumption was an aberration as he made 15 saves, and the potent Tufts’ offense never let their opponents into the game.

            “Crapser is doing fine,” Hayes said. “He played a great game against New England. It’s just something that happens to all goalies.

            Back on track after a few rough games, the Jumbos are once again confident in their pursuit of the ECAC Northeast title. However, the Jumbos have their work cut out for them, as they will face the strongest opponents on the schedule in the upcoming weeks.

            “We are doing fine,” Hayes said. “We had a little lapse, and we just have to fight through. Since that loss, we have been picking up the intensity. We are still making a couple mistakes and we haven’t been executing some of the systems, but if we keep up the intensity we should be ok.”

            The team will be focusing on team defense, the most glaring problem so far in their 9-1 campaign, where scoring goals has never been a problem.

            “In the three games we scored at least five goals,” Picone said. “Our team defense still needs some work though. Games are a lot different than practice. Lots of small unexpected things can happen, which lead to a goal by the other team. It just takes a little while to get back in the swing of things.”