Merrimack's Connor Dunn (8) tries to slip the puck past North-Souhegan goalie Colin Duckless, but he had help from teammates Chase McBride, left, and Ty Washam during Wednesday night's game at Conway Arena. (Telegaph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA — Nashua High School North-Souhegan hockey coach Bill Kotsifas was shaking his head on Wednesday night.

He had a problem. What could he tell his players they needed to do better after they fell to local rival Merrimack 4-2 at Conway Arena?

Nothing.

“I thought they played great tonight,” Kotsifas said of his team, now 1-6 in Division I. “I asked them to play a certan way, they took shots, they took the body, they forechecked. All the things we talked about, they actually did well.

“We just couldn’t get anything by the kid.”

And “the kid” was Tomahawks goalie Matt Licata, who preserved a third period lead and ended up with 28 saves.

“Matt’s a very competitive kid,” Merrimack coach Dan Belliveau said. “That’s the kind of goalie you like to have on your team, you don’t necessarily have to motivate a kid like that. He’s given us a chance to win every night.”

On the flip side, the Tomahawks made their shots count, getting two big power play goals. With the score tied at 2 after two periods, they got what proved to be the game-winner on a man-advantage goal by Connor Dunn (Kyle Dunn assist) just 1:04 into the final period on a flurry in front of Saber-Titans goalie Colin Duckless (26 stops).

Some five minutes later, Brayden Guagliumi (two goals, assist) tipped in an Eliot Medlock shot from the outside for an all important insurance goal.

Remember, the ‘Hawks are just coming off a 10-day pandemic pause, 3-0 since after starting out 0-2.

“These kids are working hard every week,”Belliveau said. “We’re just kind of feeling like we’re getting our feet under us right now. Power plays helped us out, no doubt about it. … We talked about getting in front of the net, try to create a screen, try to deflect the pucks. I think it worked, we had two deflected goals tonight.”

The two teams were going back and forth. Merrimack got goals in the first period by Guagliumi (Medlock, Kyle Dunn assist) at 9:03 (power play) and Jackson Woods (Guagliumi assist) at 10:38 sandwiched around a North-Souhegan goal by Jacob Landry (Chris Weeden assist) at 10:07.

Trailing 2-1 after one, the Saber-Titans got the second period’s only goal off a flurry in front of Licata by Christian Miller, with Will Dodge getting the assist.

But that was it for the Saber-Titans scoring, as trailing by two for most of the third they kept coming at Licata. There was one instance when the puck was sitting in front of an open goal after an initial Licata save, but Landry couldn’t get there in time for the rebound goal.

“We’ve got a young team, they’re starting to get it, starting to believe in themselves,” Belliveau said.

Kotsifas wants his team to have that same faith.

“It’s disappointing to lose,” Kotsifas said. “They’re smart. The puck was in front, they cleaned it up. The one thing I’d like us to do more is knock in some rebounds. We had a few on the doorstep, we just didn’t get there. I do know how to fix that, get hungrier, and they will.

“I’m disappointed we lost, but not disappointed in how we played.”

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