In boxing, there are crossroads fights. In hockey, there are crossroads games. Central Buck East and Central Bucks South found themselves at a crossroads Friday night, with each looking to vault themselves into the top tier of the SHSHL National Division standings.

It was the Titans who made the climb, on the strength of seven unanswered goals over the last two periods-plus to post an 8-1 win at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center that boosted their record to 6-1-1 in league play (6-2-1 overall. The result put South within three points of first-place Pennridge and a single point behind second-place Council Rock South, which has a game in hand.

Jeff Kvecher scored twice for the winning side, six other players scored one goal each.

Perhaps the most eye-catching stat of the evening however was the Titans limiting the Patriots (4-3) to just one goal.

South defenseman Aiden Linso touted his team’s defensive effort.

“We play together as a team,” he said, “so really we knew what we had to do.

“The offense comes back, plays [defense] and we work the puck out to our wingers, so we knew they weren’t scoring a lot of goals tonight.”

D.J. Lindenmuth gave South a 1-0 lead 2:56 into the opening period on a shot from the deep right wing.  Corey Kosick tied the game at the 14:56 mark when he forced a turnover in the South defensive zone and scored on a solo effort.

The East offense, which been averaging better than four goals a game prior to Friday night, was not heard from thereafter, to the chagrin of Patriot coach Jeff Mitchell.

“I don’t know what was up with my team tonight,” he said. “It’s completely unacceptable in my opinion.”

Leading 2-1 after the first frame, the Titans broke the game open with two goals in the second period and four more in the third.

Linso, who assisted on three goals himself, stressed the importance of he and his teammates maintaining their focus after they built their lead.

“It’s real important,” he said. “Teams can come back just like that. We had to make sure everybody was doing their job. People can’t be getting goal hungry. If we stay together as a team, we’ll keep winning games like that.”

South coach Shaun McGinty noted that his team’s defensive work could have been better.
“I don’t want to take anything away from East,” he said. “They’re a good team, they’ve got some guys that can put the puck in the net but we had some guys that were trying to fly the zone a little earlier than normal and not protecting the house as we call it.

“That stuff’s going to haunt you against a C.R. South, Pennridge, against East when they’re firing.”

Ice chips—The National Division standings may look different at the end of next week. Council Rock South and Pennridge will met on Wednesday before the Rams take on the Titans the following night. Both games will be at Hatfied Ice.

C.B. East 1 0 0—1

C.B. South 2 2 4—8 

First-period goals: D.J. Lindenmuth (CBS) from Jake Stepp and Aidan Linso, 2:51; Corey Kosick (CBE) unassisted, 14:56 (sh); Joey Slobodrian (CBS) from Jeff Kvecher, 16:34

Second-period goals: Jake Kunkle (CBS) unassisted, 1:50; Kvecher (CBS) from Sean Cutter 16:27 (pp)

Third-period goals: Ryan Frey (CBS) from Cutter, 2:27 (sh); Colin Mendham (CBS) from Linso and Alex Cannon, 6:21; Stepp (CBS) unassisted at 7:12; Kvecher (CBS) from Linso and Logan Hood, 9:32

Shots: C.B. East 14, C.B. South 31; Saves: Cole Breen (CBE) 23, Dom Varacallo (CBE) 13