KENTS HILL — Zach Gagne came charging down the left wing, cut to the inside and had a little opening.

It was all the Cony High School sophomore forward needed.

“I just wanted to get it on net,” he said. “I shot it and it went in. After I scored, I was pumped.”

Gagne’s goal with 8 minutes, 18 seconds left in the third period snapped a tie, and Cony hung on to beat Gardiner 4-3 before a capacity crowd Saturday night at Bonnefond Ice Arena.

“It was a big game and a big goal,” Gagne said. “Just a great effort from our team.”

Cony (5-3-0) squandered leads of 2-0 and 3-2 before Gagne beat Gardiner goalie Brad Moore high to the near post.

Austin Davis, Dakota Bowie and Aaron Manter also scored for the Rams. Davis and Bowie had two assists.

Cony goalie Matt Swan stopped 21 shots to earn the victory.

“Beating our rival is important for our season,” Cony coach Chad Foye said. “It was a good win.”

Bryant Whitley, Josh Moore and Alex Nadeau scored for the Tigers, who trailed 2-0 two minutes into the game but rallied back to pull even heading into the third period. Brad Moore stopped 24 shots.

“It’s hard losing to Cony,” Gardiner coach Jeff Ross said. “It’s a good, friendly rivalry. You want to beat them. We responded well, but we didn’t take care of our power-play opportunities and made too many mistakes.”

Davis gave Cony a 3-2 lead just 1:56 into the third when he scored in the slot after Manter’s shot from the point didn’t make it to the net.

“(The puck) went off somebody and I was right there,” Davis said, “and I put it in the net.”

The teams then traded goals in a one-minute span of the third period. Josh Moore pulled the Tigers even with 8:29 left in the third period when he beat Swan with a high wrister.

However, it took Gagne and the Rams only 11 seconds to again surge in front.

“They scored right after we scored and we can’t do those things,” Ross said. “It was a good game but we can’t do those things.”

Cony came out flying and grabbed a 2-0 lead before many spectators had crammed into the rink. Manter opened the scoring just 1:22 into the game when a low shot from the right point trickled past Brad Moore to the near post. Bowie made it 2-0 when he took a pass from Davis in the slot and again beat Moore to the short side 25 seconds later.

Whitley cut the deficit in the half when he buried a breakaway with 1:54 left in the period.

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com