HATFIELD >> Senior Aidan Linso and Central Bucks South haven’t made it past the Flyers Cup quarterfinals during his career and he thinks the Titans have the team to get over that hump this time.
To get farther, they first needed to get to the quarterfinals. No. 6 CB South accomplished that Tuesday night with a 5-2 first-round win over No. 11 Avon Grove at Hatfield Ice Arena. The Titans will face No. 3 Boyertown in the quarterfinals Thursday.
“This year we have a good team,” Linso said. “We really bonded this year. Me and the captains, we decided we really needed to come together as a team. That’s how you win games. We’re hoping to make it far this year. We think we have a good team.”
Linso got the scoring started when he lit the lamp midway through the first period. He grabbed a rebound at his own net and raced up the left side. His wrist shot from the left circle found the top shelf to give the Titans a 1-0 lead less than nine minutes into the game.
“The first goal is really important,” Linso said, “especially for our team because we can come out soft. When we get that first goal, we get the momentum and that’s when our team starts pumping and that’s when we start killing teams.”
South doubled the lead early in the second period and quickly made it a three-goal game after that. DJ Lindenmuth made it 2-0 when he found space between Avon Grove’s goalie and the near post from a tough angle to the side of the net. Less than three minutes later, a long pass from Joey Slobodrian to Colin Mendham set the latter up for a breakaway. Mendham converted to add more breathing room for the Titans.
Avon Grove had a great opportunity to get back into the game late in the second period. South committed two penalties just 13 seconds apart, giving the Red Devils 107 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage. They were unable to generate a strong scoring opportunity and remained in a 3-0 hole heading to the third period.
“We had great possession, we had good opportunities,” Avon Grove coach Sean Cannon said. “I just feel like the longer you go in tournaments when you don’t score, the harder and harder it gets because you want to score. You squeeze the sticks a little bit and you’re pressuring too much. I thought if we could pop one early in the third we’d get going.”
Linso and Jake Stepp played the entire 1:47 to kill off the two penalties. Sean Cutter and Mendham rotated as the forwards during the 5-on-3.
“We just kept (the puck) to the outside,” Linso said. “They weren’t taking their shots and when they put the puck on net we just cleared out. We got it deep because they would collapse down.”
Avon Grove trimmed its deficit to two twice in the third period – William Gorman’s goal made it 3-1 with 7:32 and Brendan Chandler made it 4-2 with 26.5 seconds left – but that’s as close as the Sun Devils would get.
Both times Avon Grove scored, South had an answer. An impressive give-and-go between Cutter and Lindenmuth resulted in a Cutter goal after four passes and Jeffrey Kvecher tallied an empty netter with 10 seconds left.
Avon Grove’s season ends with the loss, but the Red Devils expect to be back with a strong team next year.
“We graduated 12 seniors last year,” Cannon said. “We’re a very young team. We only lose four forwards and two defensemen off this team and our goaltending, but we already have the guys. A lot of guys got experience tonight. We use our JV program very well. I think our future is bright here.”
Central Bucks South 5, Avon Grove 2
Avon Grove 0 0 2 – 2
CB South 1 2 2 – 5
First Period
Aidan Linso (CBS) assisted by Nathan Napolitano 8:52
Second Period
DJ Lindenmuth (CBS) assisted by Aidan Linso 1:48
Colin Mendham (CBS) assisted by Joey Slobodrian 4:23
Third Period
William Gorman (AG) assisted by Matthew Oliviere 9:28
Sean Cutter (CBS) assisted by DJ Lindenmuth 14:48
Brendan Chandler (AG) 16:34
Jeffrey Kvecher (CBS) assisted by Logan Hood, Jake Stepp 16:50
Saves
AG: Owen El-Attar 31
CBS: Nathan Napolitano 20
