CB South captured the Flyers Cup with its 5-2 win over Souderton Tuesday. To view game action photos, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Ben Reese
WARWICK – There is an old saying about getting there "firstest with the mostest."
That is exactly what Central Bucks South did Tuesday night at the Warwick Ice Arena to win the Flyers Cup.
The Titans got their "firstest" by scoring the first goal of the game. And by getting the "mostest" out of their defense against Souderton's high scoring pair of Daniel Rock and Alex Politsky.
South's 5-2 victory propels it into the state championship game Saturday against Bishop Canevin of Pittsburgh at the Pegula Ice Arena at Penn State University.
The first goal of the game was scored by the Titans' Connor Matsinger unassisted with 10:23 gone in the opening stanza. It set the stage for the rest of the game for South.
"That was a huge factor," the Titans' Jake Bauer said. "If you get the first goal, you're rolling from there."
His coach, Tom Coyne, knew how important that first goal was going to be.
"Momentum," he said when asked what the goal provided his team. "You know you want to get something going early.
"It got the crowd going, the bench. It was a terrific start."
Even the Titans' captain, Dom Bova, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, knew its importance.
"It was huge," Bova said. "The first goal sets the tone for the rest of the game. That was huge for us."
Of course, Bauer scoring the second goal slightly less than four minutes later didn't hurt either. In fact, South built up a 4-0 lead in the second period before Souderton coach Matt Montagna called a timeout to settle his team down. It worked to a degree because the Indians outscored South 2-1 for the remainder of the game.
However, that brings up the "mostest" part of that saying. The Titans limited the dangerous duo of Rock and Politsky to just one goal for Politsky and a pair of assists for Rock. The pair had collected more than 60 points each during the regular season.
"In the beginning, we really weren't going to do anything," said Coyne. "We were going to play our game. We just went at them.
"If their goalie wasn't going to go behind the net, we were just going to go deep, work pucks off the wall and get it there.
"In the second half of the game, Matsinger went hip-to-hip with Rock. If we were going to get beat, Politsky was the guy who was going to beat us.
"Between Clem (Brenden Clements), (Kevin) Casey and Mat playing like a beast tonight, they all went hip-to-hip with Rock. And you've got to because he's just a terrific player."
Politsky realized what the Titans were doing against the Souderton offense.
"We had trouble getting in," he said. "They trapped us pretty well and then they transitioned pretty well.
"We were getting shots on net but some games you win and some games you lose. We just played our hearts out."
Montagna echoed the sentiments of his captain.
"We didn't get any of the bounces that we've become accustomed to," he said. "I think you need some bounces to get into this game.
"They did a very nice job and my hat's off for that. We still had chances and they just didn't go in. The start killed us."
It was Matsinger's goal that got things started for South. He beat Indians' goalie Dawson Anders unassisted for the tally.
Bauer's first goal came on the power play off an assist from Bova to up the score to 2-0. His second goal came early in the second period off assists from Bova and Casey with only 3:53 gone in the period.
Casey added a goal 2:07 later. With Mike Pilla in the box for boarding, Casey scored unassisted and short-handed goal, and it was 4-0.
At that point, Montagna called his timeout. Politsky got Souderton on the board 1:01 later with assists from Rock and Chris Malanga.
Leo Flick got that one back for the Titans. With 8:12 elapsed in the third period, he scored off assists from Pilla and Brandon Spognardi.
Clay Anders got the Indians' second and final goal with only 29 seconds left in the game, scoring on the power play. The assists went to Politsky and Rock.
Needless to say, South was elated with the outcome. The Titans won the Flyers Cup and also a trip to Penn State.
"Coming off last year, we came into this season with a chip on our shoulder," Bova said. "That carried us.
"We're a very deep team from top to bottom. This was just the next step. We're ready for the next chapter, states."
"It's surreal," Bauer added. "(I have) no words for it.
"Our team's about 75 percent seniors. It could have been our last game."
And Coyne agreed.
"This is for everybody," the coach said. "We just had one more door to kick in after all these years coming close.
"We're on a roll right now. It's going to continue Saturday, I hope."
Politsky was gracious in defeat.
"They're a very good team and they have a lot of talented players," the senior captain said. "We came up short this time, but I'm proud of every single player on my team.
"I'm proud of the boys for making it this far. No one expected us to get this far.
"Obviously I'm let down. We came this far, why not win it? It's hard to keep your head high but I'm trying."
Politsky, Rock, Bova, Bauer and South goalie Aaron King were named to the all-tournament team. Rock was cited as the leading scorer in the tourney.
Souderton 0 1 1 – 2
CB South 2 2 1 – 5
First Period
1. Connor Matziner CBS (unassisted) 10:23; 2. Jake Bauer CBS (Dom Bova 15:01 PP. Penalties: Alex Politsky (S) hooking 5:57; Mike Pilla (CBS) cross checking 6:49; Clay Anders (S) cross checking 14:12.
Second Period
3. Bauer CBS (Bova, Kevin Casey) 3:53. 4. Casey CBS (unassisted) 6:37 SH. 5. Politsky S (Daniel Rock, Chris Malanga) 7:01. Penalties: Pilla (CBS) boarding 6:00; Pilla (CBS) boarding misconduct 6:00; Thomas Tierney (S) slashing 6:37; Matsinger (CBS) interference 9:15; John Pohl (CBS) unsportsmanlike conduct 13:37; Politsky (S) hooking 14:41.
Third Period
6. Leo Flck CBS (Pilla, Brandon Spognardi) 8:12; 7. Clay Anders S (Politsky, Rock) 16:31 PP. Penaltiea: Pohl (CBS) hooking 4:07; Spognardi (CBS) boarding 10:35; Spognardi (CBS) boarding misconduct 10:35; Bauer (CBS) unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct 11:54; BOva (CBS) cross checking 15:42.
Shots: S -- 27; CBS -- 22. Saves: Dawson Anders (S) 17; Aaron King (CBS) 25.
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