By GORDON GLANTZ
It has been the best of times, mixed with the bitter taste of the worst of times, for the Central Bucks South ice hockey team so far in the young season.
While the Titans were on the wrong end of lopsided losses to league rival Council Rock South and to Downingtown East in a nonleague game, they remain within striking distance of first place with a 6-1 record entering this week.
What has coach Shaun McGinty most proud is that three wins were in overtime – 5-4 over Pennridge on Nov. 7, 4-3 over Pennsbury on Nov. 20 and 6-5 over North Penn on Nov. 27 – after the two sobering setbacks.
“The kids are performing, they are playing well,” said McGinty, the head coach since 2010. “It’s all positive from the jump. We let two games slide, against Downingtown East and Council Rock South, where we just didn’t show up. Obviously, that can’t happen. That was two games in a row where we gave up a total of 13 goals in those games. But, other than that, we have battled and played well. We have three overtime wins. That shows resilience.”
In addition to the tough losses, the Titans were down on manpower until recently.
“Unfortunately, we had some injuries, but we are finally getting healthy again,” said McGinty.
McGinty also had to serve a suspension as a result of his team being whistled for too many penalties.
“Against Council Rock South, we got throttled pretty good,” he said. “We got into penalty trouble, and we really didn’t show our character and our culture during that game. The kids lost control, and I got suspended because the kids had too many penalties. That’s only the second time that has ever happened to me in 15 years.
“That’s the type of thing that happens when you are dealing with teenagers and emotion and testosterone. Sometimes the kids lose it and it’s hard to control.”
But mistakes are not mistakes unless you don’t learn from them.
“Sometimes, you are going to get beat,” said McGinty. “You just have to learn to just take your beating and go home.”
The Titans, with players missing, took on CB East and Pennsbury and got back on the winning track.
“We had to play with a skeleton crew,” said McGinty. “Luckily, for the boys, they were able to win those games. That was huge.”
McGinty added that it is a “long short season,” and a few losses could bump a team with high expectations off course and into the middle of the standings.
“If you drop four or five games, that just doesn’t work,” he said. “You can find yourself in a hole quickly.”
A Winning Culture
McGinty pointed out that his current team has nine seniors and a handful of juniors who have won championships together on the middle school and JV levels, which certainly helps in the confidence department.
“That’s a good thing,” he said. “Like I said to those guys, winning together back then meant a lot.
“But, at the same time, those wins don’t mean anything now. You want to fight for the league and be in the top five in the Flyers Cup and then fight for the Flyers Cup.
“What I said to them was, ‘The same kids you played against then are the same kids you are playing against now.’ That’s the message I tried to send to them.”
Balanced Attack
The veteran squad features depth (three forward lines and three regular defensemen, with others mixed in) and balanced scoring, with Jeremy Kvecher leading the way with 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists).
“That’s kind of a double-edged sword,” said McGinty. “We have a lot of guys who are scoring, but we don’t have a prolific goal scorer.”
While the Titans don’t feature players like Council Rock South’s Jake Weiner (13 goals, 5 assists in 6 games) or Pennridge’s Shane Dachowski (15 goals, 10 assists in 6 games), there are some offensive weapons behind Kvecher.
Logan Hood entered this week’s action with 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) and captain Sean Cutter has added 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) despite shifting back to defense for two weeks due to injuries.
McGinty is high on sophomore Joe Slobodrian, a power forward who has already notched 11 points (8 goals, 3 assists) in 5 games.
From the blue line, the Titans have a solid trio. Peter Herring has 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists), Jamison Crouch follows with 9 points (4 goals, 5 assists) and assistant captain Jake Stepp checks in with 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists).
“Those guys log a lot of minutes,” said McGinty.
Ryan Frey has recently returned from injury to boost the forward corps. He has a pair of tallies in four games.
Others to watch up front are Dominic Gibson with 9 points (7 goals, 2 assists) and
Keith Waldron has 6 points, all assists.
“We do have that balance, and I know that it’s hard to coach against, because we have three lines,” said McGinty. “If I can get all my lines running, I can have four lines.
“At the same time, I do need guys to score.”
Healthy Competition
The Titans will surely be circling the grudge match with Council Rock South on the calendar (Jan. 29, 7:30 Hatfield Gray) but McGinty knows that other teams skating right on their heels will be doing the same.
“Yeah, we are looking forward to playing to CR South again, but just as much as Pennridge is looking forward to playing us again,” said McGinty. “We beat them in overtime, so I know that they want us as much as we want CR South.”
And then there is North Penn, which is on the docket for Wednesday (8:30, Hatfield Gray).
“We beat North Penn in overtime, so you know that they have us highlighted and bolded on their calendar,” said McGinty.
All in all, though, McGinty finds that healthy.
“That’s a great thing for our league,” he said. “And not really so much for our league, really, but a great thing for the kids. That’s what makes high school hockey special. If you have balanced league, that means every game is like a Friday night lights. That’s what you want.
“It’s great for the kids. It’s higher stress level. It’s a higher level of excitement.”
The Puck Stops Here
The Titans outshot Pennridge, 61-36, but were able to escape with that narrow OT win.
“They have Jacob Winton in net,” said McGinty. “He’s arguably the best goalie in our league, and he’s going to steal a game.”
While also singling out CB East goalie Cole Breen (4.20 goals against average, .855 save percentage), as another who can steal a game, he expressed full confidence in his own goalie, sophomore Nathan Napalitno (3.71 goals against average, .857 save percentage).
“Nathan is a strong goaltender,” the Titans’ coach said. “He won the starting the position by the end of the year last year, beating out a junior and a senior. He ran the table the last three games, all the playoffs and Flyers Cup. He deserved it. He’s a good goaltender, and a focused kid. He does well, on and off the ice. He’s a very structured person.”
The American Way
While Plymouth Whitemarsh has catapulted into the proverbial cat bird seat in the American Division with a 4-0 record, Wissahickon sent a strong message with a 7-6 overtime win over upstart Hatboro Horsham on a goal by Jack Raebiger.
The Trojans improved to 3-1 and are currently riding shotgun to the Colonials in the standings.
A trio of Colonials – Cooper Kunze (7 goals, 5 assists), Daniel Guller (4 goals, 7 assists) and Blake Ambler (5 goals, 5 assists) – are the top scorers in the American.
PW has outscored opponents, 34-10, thus far.
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