Nashua South-Pelham goalie Noah Soule, center, is consoled by teammates Gavin Asimakopulos (2) and Hundter Demers after Saturday's season-ending 3-1 loss to Keene at Conway Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – There were plenty of hugs on and off the ice at Conway Arena late Saturday afternoon.

It was a tough, emotional time for the Kings of Nashua South-Pelham. They were hoping to keep their very faint Division I tourney hopes alive, but their 3-1 loss at the hands of Keene meant the season – and likely the co-op entity – ended when the buzzer sounded.

“They had very high expectations of themselves and this team,” Kings coach Jordan Saracco said. “A lot of talent, a lot of ability. They knew that they could have gotten to the playoffs this year, which has not happened in a long time.

“We were right there. We could go right back through the many different games that we could have won, were close to winning. We skated with some of the better teams in the state – Salem, Keene, Exeter. These kids they battle hard, they play hard, and wear their hearts on their sleeve.”

The Kings got part of what they were hoping for when Bishop Guertin downed Trinity 6-2. Then Bow had to tie Windham to create a three-way tie for the 10th and final tourney spot, but even that would have been tough to win out given the tiebreakers. In the end, Bow beat Windham 3-1 to squeeze out Trinity for the last spot.

Still, earlier in the day, with a win there’d be hope. The Kings scored 40 seconds into the game on Broden Landsteiner unassisted goal. That score held up for the first period, but in the second South-Pelham found the penalty box three times in the second period, during which Keene got the equalizer on a goal by Evan Ahnert, unassisted at 5:52.

“We let the weight of the moment get in the way in the second period and really get to us,” Sarracco said. “You know, when you’re have that amount of time in the box, playing in a game of this magnitude, it’s tough to keep your head the whole time. We just lost our way in the second period and it was hard to get anything going and keep momentum going our way.”

And that opened the door for the Blackbirds in the third period, as they got the go-ahead goal by Chris Truman, assisted by Gunner Gallant at 5:11, just after a Kings major penalty had expired. Eight minutes later Taylor Miller scored on an empty netter.

And that was that, the season ending at 5-12-1, one in which they lost four games by a goal, including back-to-back in overtime, plus two by two goals, including Saturday’s. And in their tie, the Kings led Exeter in the final minute but gave up the game tying goal that sent things to a scoreless OT.

Kings goalie Noah Soule had 20 saves while his Keene counterpart Nick Fortier came up with 18, including robbing the Kings’ Brendon Doughty on two quick shots in the second.

“I was telling (Sarracco) before the game started, I think they’ve had a great season,” Keene coach Chris McIntosh said, his 13-5 team the likely third seed, going into the postseason on a seven-game win streak. “Tough for the kids obviously not to get the wins.We knew they weren’t going to roll over, they played hard.”

“They fought hard, they gave Keene a run,” Sarracco said.

With a couple of exceptions, that’s what the Kings did to everyone they faced.

South goalie Noah Soule gets help from Andrew Byrne (11) while Keene’s Chris Truman (5) puts the pressure on during Saturday’s Division I regular season finale at Conway Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

South goalie Noah Soule gets help from Andrew Byrne (11) while Keene’s Chris Truman (5) puts the pressure on during Saturday’s Division I regular season finale at Conway Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

BISHOP GUERTIN 6, TRINITY 2

The Cards, as has been the case most of the season, got five different goal scorers in completing the regular season by winning 11 in a row.

Ryan Mogielnicki had a pair of goals ad an assist, while the Noah Coreiero (goal), Mike Ponto (goal), Jordan Delude (goal, assist) and James Mantone (goal, assist) also put the puck in the net.

Other assists on the day went to Brady Maclean (two), Jordan O’Hearn, Cam Auger and Gavin Santos. Luke Bettencourt had 25 saves in goal while BG outshot Trinity (6-11-1) 48-27.

The Cards now will await the tourney pairings to be announced and will host a quarterfinal game next Saturday.