Nashua Knights goalie Anthony Venezia makes a save on Bedford's Conor Bythrow during Wednesday night's season and ;program opener at Saint Anselm's Sullivan Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

GOFFSTOWN – It was a night of history and heartbreak.

The first ever game for the Nashua North-South co-op hockey team showed lots of promise as the Knights had a 4-3 lead over Bedford with just under four minutes to play.

But the Bulldogs spoiled what would have been a great historical debut with two goals in the final 3:43 to down Nashua 5-4 at Saint Anselm’s Sullivan Arena.

“It’s not heartbreaking,” Knights co-coach Chris Zarlenga said. “I think what we did tonight is what we said we were going to do, just work every shift the entire game.”

The Bulldogs’ Evan Maslanka tied the game at 11:17 of the third with a top shelf wrister and Knights goalie Anthony Venezia (25 saves) caught out of positon after a quick cross ice pass from Colin Langianese. And with just 1:44 left, Aaron Warble came in on a breakaway off a feed from John Warble. Venezia came out and got a piece of the puck but Warble pushed ahead and nudged the puck into the empty net.

What Nashua did was remarkable when you take into account the merged team did not scrimmage in the two-week preseason and Bedford (1-1) had already played a game, losing its opener to Pinkerton.

“We beat ourselves,” Zarlenga said. “We worked hard for two weeks and came in here and kept working hard. That’s all we can ask for. …There’s a list of things that shouldn’t have led to that (winning goal) to begin with. It’s not on one player, there were six players out there. It’s a learning experience for everybody.”

Nashua, which had leads of 1-0, 3-2, and 4-3 had a goal and two assists from captain Brendon Doughty, whose goal through traffic beat Bulldogs goalie Tristin Leck and gave Nashua that 4-3 edge at 4:28 of the third. It was a lead the Knights tried to nurse for the rest of the period but couldn’t, despite their compete level that had many take notice.

“I was expecting that, a hard-working team that was ready to go,” Bedford coach Jon Garrity said of the Knights. “They’re definitely that, clearly well coached and I don’t think they had any scrimmages so that’s impressive. … They took us to the limit. That game with all the bounces could have went either way, easily.”

While the puck changed direction often, so did momentum. Nashua took a 1-0 lead on the co-op’s first ever goal coming off the stick of Conor Prunier, assisted by Doughty and Callen Cullity just 2:31 into their season. Bedford tied it up on Aaro nWarble’s first goal two minutes later when the puck sat in the crease and no one could see it except the Bulldog freshman who nudged it in

Nashua’s Brendan Skelley looks to move away after checking Bedford’s John Warble during Wednesday night’s Knights debut at SaintAnselm’s Sullivan Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

The hosts took the lead 3:29 into the second on a goal by Conor Bythrow, but Nashua tied it 19 second later on a Cullity goal assisted by Doughty six minutes in, and went ahead on a rebound goal by Jared Gauthier, assisted by Brendan Skelley and Braedyn Thyne. Langienese tied it at 3 at 9:46 of the second (Bythrow assist) as a hard shot deflected in off Venezia’s glove.

Despite the result, the event that everyone was anticipating for months took place, which was memorable in itself.

“I’d say even since we knew about it in February,” Doughty said. “It was a hard battle. … We were good. Losing sucks, but we were happy to be playing again, happy to be one Nashua. We’re liking our odds for the rest of the season.”

“We want to win every game obviously,” Zarlenga said. “But what we really need to do is cement the reputation and the identity that we need to have. … The wins are going to come.”

Nashua’s Brendon Doughty gets hooked by Bedford’s Conor Bythrow (10) during Wednesday night’s season opener at Saint Anselm’s Sullivan Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)