WATERVILLE — When Kennebec head coach Jon Hart burned his timeout while leading by a goal with less than three minutes left in regulation, the Gardiner boys hockey team started to believe that this night was going to turn out in their favor.
Indeed, it did.
The Tigers rallied back from a three-goal third-period deficit on Wednesday night, completing the comeback with senior Jared Shaw’s power-play goal in overtime for a 6-5 win over the RiverHawks in a Class B North game at Colby College’s Alfond Rink.
Shaw punched home the rebound of a Cam Rizzo shot at 6:10 for the game-winner.
“It’s a thrill,” Shaw said. “The whole crowd’s cheering, and you worked really hard to get that goal. I’ve got to credit to the whole team. We really worked hard tonight.”
Gardiner (5-3-0) also got goals from Sean Michaud, Alex Grover, Jon Flynn, A.J. Chadwick and Rizzo.
Senior center Cody Ivey had a hat trick for Kennebec (2-7-1). Nate Newgard and Wyatt Grenier also scored in the loss, which ended the RiverHawks’ modest two-game unbeaten streak.
“I told them to leave it all on the ice tonight,” Gardiner coach Tyler Wing said. “There was nothing we couldn’t do to try and come back, they just had to make sure they left it all out there.”
Ivey, who scored a shorthanded goal in the second period, netted his third of the night at 3:31 of the third to extend the Kennebec lead to 5-2.
But then Flynn answered 32 seconds later, and Chadwick pulled the Tigers to within a goal at 5-4 with less than seven minutes remaining.
Scrambling in their own end and desperate to recover, Hart called timeout with 2:42 remaining in the third period. Rizzo knotted the score less than 30 seconds later.
“When Rizzo scored, that’s when I felt it really kind of shift our way,” Wing said. “When we scored out of their timeout, that’s when I felt it was going to go our way.”
Three Kennebec penalties in overtime — one of them a holdover from the final seconds of regulation — gave Gardiner plenty of momentum in the extra session.
Rizzo and Ryan Kimball each took turns trying to beat Kennebec goalie Bryce Gunzinger during a 5-on-5 Tiger power play before Shaw hopped on Rizzo’s rebound for the winner.
“Coach told me to go in front of the net, so I did just that,” Shaw said. “A lucky bounce, and I was there to get it in.”
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