Jason Guerriero mounted a six-game point streak, helping the men’s hockey team to victories in six of their last seven, and has been named The Northeastern News Player of the Week.
The 5-8 junior center totaled 15 points in the six-game span, recording multiple points in every game except a 4-3 overtime loss to Boston University.
Guerriero figured in all Husky tallies with a goal and two assists in a 3-0 shutout of cross-town rival Boston College on Jan. 3. BC was ranked No. 2 in the country at the time. His highest point total during the stretch was four, with two goals and two assists in a 7-5 victory over Mercyhurst in the RPI Tournament championship game. A day earlier Guerriero notched a goal and two assists to help NU defeat Colgate 6-4 in the preliminary rounds. He was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
In addition to being tabbed the tournament MVP, Guerriero was also decorated by Hockey East, which elected him Player of the Week on Jan. 5, and by Inside College Hockey as the national player of the week of his RPI performance.
The first line’s surge in production comes as sophomore Steve Sanders was moved up to left wing to play with right wing Mike Morris and Guerriero at the pivot.
“Jason is my roommate,” said Sanders. “That helped us click. We see each other well on the ice, and since (the line has been together) the offensive has picked up.”
“We’ve done well in the last seven games, and in every game and every practice we gell a bit more,” he said. “It can only get better from here.”
“He’s got a real competitive streak, almost to a fault,” said coach Bruce Crowder. “He is very team-oriented, he’s been a very important part of this program for the last two-and-a-half years.”
“We started to get a little bit of ‘puck luck’ as they call it,” he said of the team’s drastic turnaround. “Even if the record didn’t show it, I thought we were playing good hockey.”
Crowder added that he was of the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” mind set regarding the starting line of Morris/Guerriero/Sanders.
Guerriero has played in every game since he came to Northeastern, and was second on the team in points last year with 28.
As a freshman, he racked up 26 assists, the third highest freshman total in NU history. He also had two goals, including the OT winner, in a victory over New Hampshire.
He played his junior hockey with the Texas Tornado, a team that produced current Huskies Jon Awe and Bryan Esner.
After Tuesday’s practice, Guerriero shared the optimism of both his roommate and his coach. “When we were down, everyone was staying positive, thinking we were going to turn it around, and now we have,” he said. “It’s like the snowball effect, and the ball is going to keep getting bigger.”
– Peter Conroy, News Staff
