BRISTOL -- Even if he's not scoring, Central Bucks South junior forward Connor Bechtel is doing the little things to help make his teammates and his team successful.
Certainly, the Titans' leading scorer can dent the twine and dish out assists with the best in the league, but he's also willing to do the little things that don't show up on the scoresheet -- racing to every loose puck, coming back to help on defense, drawing the opponents' attention while teammates get open.
"Connor is amazing, the puck just seems like a magnet on his stick," said Titans coach Tom Coyne. "For a big guy to have that type of skill set, especially in close, he's got remarkable hands. He's an every shift kind of kid. And if he goes out, and it maybe doesn’t go his way, he's even more hungry to get back out on the ice the next shift."
For Bechtel, there's no big secret to why he works as hard as he does. It's rather simple, really.
"I like to win," he said. "I just want to do whatever I need to do to help the team win."
Bechtel finished with three assists on the night, but his contributions were invaluable as Central Bucks South kicked off the 2012 portion of the season with a dominating 7-1 victory over Pennsbury at Grundy Ice Arena.
"It was really important to get the second half of our season off to a good start," Bechtel said. "We did good the first half, now we want to keep it going."
South capitalized on numerous turnovers in Pennsbury's defensive end. Beating Falcon defenders to wraparounds and intercepting clearing attempts, the Titans played much of the last two periods in the Pennsbury zone. Taking a slim 2-1 lead into the second period, the Titans gained an insurance goal when Nick DeLaurentis scored on a 
wraparound from behind the net that beat Pennsbury goalie Jeff Stitt to the short side. DeLaurentis also recorded three assists in an impressive four-point night that brought his season total to 24 points (Bechtel leads the team with 29 points).
"We're a real smart team," Bechtel said. "We see the ice well, capitalize on other teams' mistakes."
"That top line, with DeLaurentis and Bechtel, is fun to watch," Coyne said. "They complement each other very well."
David Cochran made it a 4-1 game with 5:56 left on a power play goal that was set up when Bechtel lost control of the puck, but kicked it to his stick, then fed Cochran at the other side of the cage.
A streaking Brett Roberts took a centering pass and fired it home to give the Titans a 5-1 lead with 11:04 left in the final stanza. Sophomore defenseman Brandon Spognardi finished the night with the final two goals, including a one-in-a-million shot from the far boards behind the goal line that bounced off Stitt and into the net.
"We were supposed to be playing 'Devil,' where we stand on the red line, and I went in not thinking we were playing 'Devil.' I came in, had five guys on me as I came around, went for a pass in front and it miraculously went in. I didn’t know what happened, but I'll take it."
South outshot the Falcons by a 34-15 count, allowing Pennsbury very little sustained offensive pressure and very few rebounds. Luke Matthews scored the only goal for the Falcons -- which made the score 2-1 with 3:18 left in the opening period -- when he ripped a William Richards centering pass over the glove of Titans' keeper Kyle Beeson following a rare defensive giveaway by South. Beeson turned aside 14 shots in securing the win, including strong saves on Matthews shots early in the first and late in the third period.
"Kyle did a great job," Coyne said. "He had to come up big a couple of times. And our defense tonight was outstanding. Our defense is such a big part of our offense, pushing the puck up the ice. (Karl) Zimmerman and (Tim) DiRugeris did a great job tonight, and Spognardi played out of his mind."
"We just focus on playing our game. We worry more about our own game than theirs," Spognardi said. "Defensively, we were just trying to break out, get the puck to the offense, pass it around. I don't think they were used to our speed and passing, which is a dominant part of our game."
Dominic Bova and Kevin Casey netted the Titans' two first-period goals. The Titans could have added a couple more had it not been for some big saves from Stett, who made 27 stops on the night. Stett denied a partially deflected shot on a 3-on-1 early in the first period and denied Bechtel twice during the opening frame.
With the loss, Pennsbury drops to 9-7-1 overall, 5-5-1 in league play. The Falcons are sitting in the middle of the pack in the National Conference, and they'll have no time to dwell on the loss as they're back in action Friday night against conference frontrunner Council Rock South (7:15 p.m. at Bucks County Ice Sports Center).
Central Bucks South improves to 11-1-2 overall, 9-0-1 in league play for 19 points and first place in the Continental Division. They'll square off against conference foe Souderton on Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. at Hatfield Ice.
And having gotten the second half of the season off to a quick start, the Titans -- who have just two seniors but plenty of experience -- are looking to ride the momentum through the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs.
"We started this a couple years ago where we knew we're going to take our lumps as ninth-graders, stick with them through the spring leagues, and now it's starting to pay off," Coyne said. "They're clicking real well. A couple years ago they were taking some lumps and now they're giving it back."
Central Bucks South 2 2 3 - 7
Pennsbury 1 0 0 - 0
First Period
CBS - Dominic Bova (Bobby Mallon assist), PP, 9:29.
CBS - Kevin Casey (Connor Bechtel, Nick DeLaurentis assists), 6:43.
P - Luke Matthews (William Richards, Nigel Honegger assists), 3:18.
Second Period
CBS - DeLaurentis (Michael Pilla assist), 12:41.
CBS - David Cochran (Bechtel, DeLaurentis assist), PP, 5:56.
Third Period
CBS - Brett Roberts (Karl Zimmerman, Bova assists), 11:04.
CBS - Brandon Spognardi (Bechtel, DeLaurentis assists), 5:59.
CBS - Spognardi (unassisted), 1:28.
Shots On Goal
Central Bucks South 13 11 10 - 34
Pennsbury 6 4 5 - 15
Saves
CBS - Kyle Beeson 14
P - Jeff Stitt 27
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