Telegraph photo by TOM KING Nashua South-Pelham goalie Cam Reinbold was often left defenseless Wednesday, as he was on this goal by Exeter's Brendan Doyle during the Blue Hawks' 8-0 victory at Conway Arena.

NASHUA – They had one huge group hug after the final buzzer, smothering backup-turned final game starting goalie Cam Reinbold.

A few minutes later, a few seniors gathered for a group shot with the coaching staff over by the Nashua High School South-Pelham bench.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this for the Kings, who concluded a tough 5-12-1 season Wednesday afternoon with an 8-0 loss at the hands of title contender Exeter at Conway Arena.

“It definitely was not what we expected,” Kings senior co-captain Johnny Pinksten said. “But I definitely couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to do it with. A great four years, I’m really glad I got to do it with these boys. It was not what we expected, but it was still a great ride, great fun.”

But not as much fun as the Kings expected to have after making the Division I tournament the last two seasons. This year they had hoped to take it another step and win a postseason game.

Instead, the Kings’ season got derailed early with a 1-5, 2-7 start. It was too much to recover from, especially when Pinksten was missing for a few games due to a controversial disqualification in the Conway Arena Holiday Tourney. The team also had a near two-week layoff between the tourney and their next regular season game. Their only wins were against teams below them – Manchester Central-West (two), Bishop Brady, Manchester Memorial, and a struggling area Division II Alvirne-Milford squad.

“There were a lot of things that came into play,” Kings coach Shawn Connors said. “But I’m proud of the kids, we’ve done really well, this group of guys the last three or four years made the playoffs. So we didn’t make it this year, but that’s OK. We played it out, they did what they could. Murphy’s Law this year came into play.”

Wednesday’s game was a perfect example. Dynamic senior goalie Nate Serrentino had an illness and it was known for days he wouldn’t be able to play. Another top player, junior defenseman Brandon Rheaume was serving a two-game suspension for allegedly bumping a ref a week ago, a call Connors says he has visual evidence to refute.

“I’ve had two kids thrown out this year for penalties that weren’t penalties,” Connors said.

But either way, things just never worked out in the Kings’ favor from the start.

Reinbold made 23 saves while the 13-2-2 Blue Hawks, winners of 10 straight, were led by Brendan Doyle’s five points (hat trick, two assists), plus two goals and an assist by Richard Davis. Single Blue Hawk goals were by Davis Nelson, Jacob Martin and Keegan Knight.

Exeter coach Paul DiMarino knows how the Kings feel with the season switch being turned off.

“I’ve been on a team that went 0-18,” he said. “It’s not fun, but you’ve got to remind yourself you’re playing with your best friends, the kids you grew up with. It stinks when it comes to an end.”

Often, Reinbold was left alone to fend for himself. The Kings also just didn’t put enough pressure in the first two periods on Exeter goalie Jude Rogles (nine saves in 30 minutes), to help take the pressure off their usual JV netminder.

“He did a great job,” Connors said of Reinbold. “He had a couple of breakaways at the beginning, but I think for being a JV goalie he did really well. I’m proud of him.”

Adding to that microcosm were the dreaded p-word – penalties, of which the Kings, much to Connors’ dismay, incurred a lot of this season. Example: They had 12 10 days ago vs. Trinity; yesterday they were called for eight. It was a problem all season, as was a lack of consistent offense.

“You’ve got to rein them in a little bit,” Connors said. “Yeah, we’ve got to fix our game when it comes to penalties. Obviously it reflects on our scoring ability and everything else. …

“Ultimately it comes down to we should have won a couple of games that, well, we should have won.”

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