Telegraph photo by TOM KING Keene goaltender Jacob Russell gets congratulated by his teammates after he helped shut out Hollis Brookline-Derryfield 2-0 Saturday for the Conway Arena Holiday Tournament title.

NASHUA — The three rides over the mountain and back from their city this week turned out to be a worthwhile one for the Keene High School hockey team.

With a year off in between, the Blackbirds successfully defended their Conway Arena Holiday Tournament title on Saturday with a 2-0 win over worthy challenger Hollis Brookline-Derryfield.

“We’re always looking forward to more ice time and a chance to play,” Keene coach Chris McIntosh said. “Everyone here did an awesome job hosting the tournament.

“But I tell you what, Hollis Brookline-Derryfield is a great team. They put up a heckuva fight, didn’t give up all game. I’d like to think that we’re a pretty good team ourselves and they were right there.”

Indeed, the Division III Warriors got themselves noticed in this event, which they entered with already a 2-0 mark. They played the Division II Blackbirds to a scoreless first half but were hurt by the fact they went 0 for 4 on the power play. Keene converted on its power play on a deflection, Joe Walsh’s flip to the front of the net deflecting off HBD defenseman Joey Outjens’ skate for the only goal the ‘Birds would need at 10:22 of the second half.

“Again, I’m proud of the boys,” Warriors coach Joel Sanborn said. “Who thought (they’d be in the finals), right? We thought, as a team. It’s a good experience for the boys. It’s not a bad taste to have going into the (regular) season. So we chalk it up and we move on.”

HBD netminder Chris Slater made this a tremendous game with his 29 saves. The only other goal he gave up was a rebound goal by Ben Brown of an Ethan Russell shot, Slater having no chance on the bang-bang play, a game-clincher at 14:28.

“He’s probably going to be there for us the rest of the season,” Sanborn said while praising his netminder.

Meanwhile, Keene goalie Jacob Russell earned the shutout with 22 saves. He got bailed out early in the second half by the crossbar but the Warriors couldn’t get forwards like Sal Vella and Paul Vachon free in space. Remember, the Warriors had 13 goals the first two days of the tournament.

“You’ve got to give their goaltender and defense credit,” Sanborn said. “We didn’t have a problem scoring goals all tournament, and today we come up with none. But as I said, it’s not a bad taste for us to have going into the season.”

Meanwhile, the ‘Birds like the way this tournanent tasted.

“It felt like it was us this week,” McIntosh said. “We didn’t have a lot to show for it from a goal standpoint, but our thought our offensive zone time was pretty good.

“The boys are playing well right now. They’re possessing the puck well, they’re moving the puck well, we’ve got to find a way to get it to the back of the net more often.”

The Warriors on Saturday could say the same thing.

Newsletter