NASHUA – For a team that spent nearly the whole night on the lead, Nashua North-Souhegan certainly looked uncomfortable with it.

Meanwhile, coach Dave Thibeault’s puppies from Alvirne-Milford just keep clawing away.

The result here at Conway Arena on Wednesday night was a 5-4 Saber-Titans victory, albeit one that was hardly aesthetically pleasing, especially to coach Matt Osgood.

“I feel like we played down. We can play much better than that,” said Osgood, whose team improved to 3-6-1 with the crossover win against the Division II Admirals. “With this group, you get up by two goals, and you kind of stay on your heels and let teams stick around.

“We’ll take it. We’ll take the four points and we’ll tighten it up.”

It looked almost immediately that the hosts might be forced to play from behind.

“Fourteen seconds into the game we score a goal, the ref says it didn’t go in. Even the other coach came up to us and said that’s a goal,” said Thibeault. “It’s tough to play from behind like that when you thought you had one.”

But with added life, the Saber-Titans pounced, breaking to a 2-0 lead on goals by Ryan Dancoes and Chris Weeden.

Alvirne-Milford answered when captain Anthony DeRosa scored just two minutes later and that’s how the first would end.

Josh Constant and Jason Scott would scored in the second period as the Saber-Titans build leads of 3-1 and then 4-2, but the Admirals kept coming back.

Matt Ryan and Corey Girouard had the Alvirne-Milford goals in the second.

A 4-3 game into the third then turned defensive and North-Souhegan, backboned by Colin Duckless in goal, would close things out.

“We went back to our basic old D’ zone,” said Osgood. “Keep all the shots on the perimeter. Let our goalie do his job. That’s what pretty much happened in the third period.”

There was some late spice in this.

Chris Weeden scored the empty-netter for a 5-3 lead before the Admirals scratched for one more with just 10 seconds left, Ryan’s second of the night, but the effort was not enough.

“The effort overall was pretty good. I just wish we came out with a spark to start the second period,” said Thibeault. “We gave up a goal just 38 seconds into the second. That’s the one I’d like to get back. We played with a short bench. We have kids out with the flu, another out with a concussion. That hurt us in the end.”

Freshman Sal Pace had a big effort for the Admirals, who again got stellar play from DeRosa and Girouard.

“We know what the record (2-8) is but at the end of the day, it’s about us getting better every day,” said Thibeault, whose underclassmen-laden roster of Admirals next tangles with Nashua South-Pelham on Saturday.

“Every game is a must-win now,” said Osgood, whose club faces South-Pelham on Monday.