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COLLEGE HOCKEY

Webber breaks through

Webber has "breakthrough" year at UMass-Boston

By Matt DiFilippo mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

It makes sense that Jasmine "Jazz" Webber is an offensive-minded defenseman. After all, she was a forward for four years before she came to the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

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ADDED OFFENSE: A Winslow native who went to Hebron Academy, UMass-Boston junior Jasmine “Jazz” Webber finished last season with two goals and 13 assists in 26 games. Webber played forward in high school but switched to the blue line in college.

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Webber, a Winslow native who went to Hebron Academy, completed her junior season at UMass-Boston this weekend. She finished the season with two goals and 13 assists in 26 games as the Beacons finished 17-10-0.

"Every year, she gets a little better," UMass-Boston women's ice hockey coach Maura Crowell said. "This year was definitely her breakthrough year, which was a surprise."

Webber had 12 assists in 51 college games entering this season, but says she has improved her hockey IQ and will now know things like exactly where the puck will go before she passes it.

"I'm learning new things every year," Webber said, "and I'm able to apply new things to my game."

Webber was a forward for about half of her freshman season at UMass-Boston. Crowell moved her to the back line to help out a defense that sorely needed speed.

"It turned out she was a damn good defenseman," Crowell said. "When she moves the puck up ice, it's just effortless, her stride is so good."

Naturally, the position switch was an adjustment at first, but Webber had a history on defense, including a spell as a high school senior.

"I needed to do defensive-minded thinking," said Webber, a Psychology and Sociology major. "It felt right, because when I first started playing, I was a defenseman, and my coach moved me to forward. So it felt like I was at home."

Webber has become solid enough on defense that Crowell estimates she plays about half the game. Webber is one of five defensemen for the Beacons, and she's on the first power play unit and the main penalty-killing team.

"She's usually out there every other shift, especially in a tight game," Crowell said.

UMass-Boston's season ended Saturday with a crash, as the Beacons lost 8-0 to Norwich in the Eastern College Athletic Conference semifinals. UMass-Boston had beaten Norwich 2-1 just a month and a half earlier.

"We wanted to be there. We wanted to play. It just didn't click on the ice for us," Webber said. "We just had a couple problems that we couldn't really fix."

Norwich went on to win the title against New England College -- a team UMass-Boston defeated twice this season -- and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

That loss will probably motivate the Beacons next season. When that comes around, Crowell is hoping Webber takes on a role as a leader and takes another step forward as a player.

"She hasn't plateaued," Crowell said. "I think she still has a little more potential to reach, and I need that from her next year, because we want to win a championship."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com