Telegraph file photo by TOM KING Nashua North-Souhegan hockey coach Matt Osgood announced Thursday he is stepping down from the job after one season.

NASHUA – Another year, another head coach apparently for the Nashua High School North-Souhegan hockey team.

The team’s fourth coach in the last four seasons, Matt Osgood, has stepped down Thursday due mainly to what he termed “philosophical differences” with Nashua Athletic Director Lisa Gingras.

The two had a meeting earlier this week, and Osgood, after mulling things over, said he felt that after one season it was likely time to move on, despite the fact Gingras wanted him to return.

“I’m disappointed,” Gingras said. “I think Matt and his staff did a great job. I had hoped Matt was going to stick around. I respect his decision.”

It’s yet another blow to a program that has struggled since the inception of the co-op five years ago. The Saber-Titans made the Division I tournament for the first time as a tandem, posting a 6-9-3 regular season mark before bowing to Windham 2-1 in the tourney’s first round.

The co-op agreement between North (the Nashua school district) and Souhegan has another two years to go, Gingras said.

Parental involvement, Osgood confirmed, was definitely a factor in his decision and was something he and Gingras discussed.

“We had some issues,” Osgood said of the parental side of things, but noted – as did Gingras – he would keep what he and Gingras specifically discussed between them.

Osgood was, however, on the record during the season saying he was not going to allow parents to interfere with his coaching. On Thursday, he expressed disappointment he felt he had to step down.

“My job,” he said, “is to put the best product on the ice and that’s what I did. And we were successful.”

And that is one of the main reasons Gingras was hopeful he would have stayed. She said she felt the same way about Osgood’s predecessor, Josh Lavoie, who also lasted just season before reportedly resigning.

“Those were two coaches (Lavoie and then Osgood) who had things going in the right direction,” Gingras said.

It will likely be a while before any successor is hired. First of all, the athletic director’s job at Souhegan is still officially vacant with Dan Wyborney stepping away, and that person is usually always involved in the decision. Plus the job needs to be officially posted by the Nashua School Department’s human resources division.

As for Osgood, he says he’ll look to coach again somewhere soon.

“There are a few things in motion,” he said.

However, the motion for the North-Souhegan hockey program is seemingly once again pointed in a difficult direction.

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