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A stable Mustang

By Walker Orenstein, 12/15/13, 10:45PM CST

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Mounds View’s Phil Boje headed to Air Force after stint in USHL


Former Mounds View defenseman Phil Boje has committed to play for the Air Force Academy. Photo by Helen Nelson


Phil Boje

Commitment has never been a problem for former Mounds View star Phil Boje.

Faced with a coaching change coming into his senior season with the Mustangs in 2011, he never seriously considered jumping to a junior league before he was granted his diploma.

After high school, Boje stuck with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL -- where he’s now in his second year – waiting and working patiently on his game while colleges came to him.

When Air Force Academy started wooing Boje, he recently committed not just to play hockey at the school, but for at least five years of military service following graduation.

Even cell phone companies would probably sign Boje up for their longest possible contracts.

“I’ve always seen myself as a really committed person,” Boje said. “I’ve never really been in a hurry to do anything. I’ve always kind of waited to weigh out my options and make sure I’m making the right choice, whatever I do.”

Boje, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound defenseman, has remarkable patience to pair with his larger ambitions. When he joined Mounds View’s varsity squad as a sophomore, he wasn’t even seen as a future prospect by his own coaches. That didn’t matter to Boje though, who kept plugging away until things started to break in his direction when he scored 15 points as a junior (11 goals, four assists) and 18 points as a senior (seven goals, 11 assists). Both years he led the Mustangs in scoring as a defenseman. In 2011, Boje participated in the USA Hockey Select 17 Camp.

“When he came here and tried out with us as a sophomore, Phil didn’t impress me too much,” said Mounds View coach Rick Thomas, in his third year with the program. “Phil really took off after his junior year … We felt he was gonna get [to a Division I school] because he just has so much drive to get better and we just saw him constantly improving at the high school level. It was just ‘how long was it gonna take him to get there.’”

Boje is the first Division I commit from Mounds View since Justin Bostrom chose to attend Minnesota in 2003. Bostrom left Mounds View for juniors after his third year. The Mustangs’ program has been steady over the last few seasons, but they’re not counted among the state’s elite Class 2A programs – Mounds View hasn’t been to the state tournament since 1978. Emerging as a top-notch player at Mounds View isn’t as easy or common as at other schools in the Suburban East conference or the state.

In his senior season, the Mustangs went 14-11-1, finishing fourth in their conference before bowing out to Stillwater in the Section 4AA quarterfinals. That season featured Mounds View’s most wins since the 2003-04 season when the Mustangs won 16 games.

“[Phil] is a guy that didn’t have the luxury of developing in one of the premier high school programs but he was a guy with some ability and obviously some heart and desire,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “He made the Dubuque Saints in the USHL and made the most of his opportunity.”

Serratore said he noticed Boje in high school and keyed in on his mobility as a defender. He expects Boje to step right into the lineup and play in many different situations, utilizing a killer shot that makes goaltenders queasy – especially on the power play. Boje even played some forward last season with Dubuque when the Saints won the league championship. He finished with a goal and three assists – a point total already surpassed so far this year by his six goals, one assist, and team-high plus-11 in the plus-minus statistic.

“There are lots of players out there that are good players, but players that make it have something that’s unique and his ability to shoot the puck is his uniqueness or his dynamic,” Dubuque coach Matt Shaw said. “He’s really gained some confidence with it and I really think that started to distinguish him from others.”

Boje’s spirit and drive hasn’t gone unnoticed back at Mounds View. He’s the type of player Thomas hopes to churn out for years to come.

“When you have kids that are doing it out of your program, it really helps us out to bring some excitement to say, ‘Hey guys, stay here and things can happen, you can make it to the D-I level,’ ” Thomas said. “To have Phil do it, it’s just a really big thing for Mustang hockey.”

 

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