Nashua North-Souhegan goalie Dylan O;Neil tries to corral the puck with Nashua South-Pelham's Brian Keefe, left, trying to get his stick on it next to North-Souhegan's Jared Gauthier during Wednesday night's Battle of the Bridge at Conway Arena. O'Neil was injured on the final play of the game and taken to a nearby hospital. (Telegra;ph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – “It’s more than hockey.”

That was the phrase uttered by both Nashua High School North-Souhegan coach Chris Zarlenga as well as South-Pelham Kings coach Jordan Sarracco following the tough ending of Wednesday night’s Battle of the Bridge contest at Conway Arena.

The game, won by the Kings,was called with 13.5 seconds left as Saber-Titan freshman goalie Dylan O’Neil was stretched out motionless on the ice in front of his goal after the Kings’ fourth power play goal of the third period.

Bodies collided on that play and O’Neil hit the ice. Players knelt in concern on the ice and fans gathered around the glass behnd the goal nearest the Conway Arena lobby while the goalie was tended to by coaches and trainers, and he was eventually worked on by EMTs and taken to a nearby hospital. O’Neil was said to be alert when taken out by stretcher and he was able to move his extremeties.

While there was oncern and a bit of shock after, word on Thursday mid-afternoon was that things were better. “He’s doing OK,” a well-placed source said.Another good sign: The Saber-Titans practiced as schedulded Thursday, and huddled on their knees at center ice while listening to head coach Chris Zarlenga. It’s not known what he told them, but they then banged their sticks on the ice, hockey’s version of a cheer.

“You just tell them that it’s bigger than hockey, right?” North-Souhegan Zarlenga said in the aftermath Wednesday night . “I don’t care about the score tonight, we can address that another day. He’s family. … This hockey team is family and that (O’Neil’s health) is all we care about right now.”

Zarlenga said there will be a practice today, “not to fix mistakes or to figure out tonight, it’s to make sure we’re around the kids and there for them. Tomorrow’s not about a hockey practice it’s about being a team.

“And we’ll be on the ice to keep their mind off things and do stuff but again it’s not to address what happened tonight.”

The South-Pelham players were on the ice for a short time after the injury but then left to wait in the lockeroom while Kings head coach Jordan Sarracco stayed on the ice to show his support before addressing his players in the locker room after O’Neil had been taken out of the arena.

“You never want to see it in any hockey game, and you definitely never want to see it at the end of a game like that,” Sarracco said. “It’s tough. It’s hard for everybody, it’s hard for North to see it at the end of a game like that. I just hope that Dylan is OK and makes a fast recovery.”

North-Souhegan players appeared to huddle briefly and than stayed kneeling on the ice throughout the time O’Neil was being cared for.

“It’s a testament to the kids love for each other and the game,” Zarlenga said. “And that’s what you do.”

Ironically, O’Neil had to miss part of the second period due to an equipment issue. Fellow freshman Tony Venezia filled in and made three saves. The Kings were shut out for the first two periods before getting four power play goals as O’Neil was basically under siege throughout. He finished with 23 saves

“The one thing worth saying about the hockey game is Dylan gave the performance of the season,” North-Souhegan assistant coach Kieran Altiere said. “He played an exceptional game.”