AUBURN — What could have been a detriment turned into a turning point for Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester when Will Keach went to the penalty box for a five-minute major.

The bad turned into lots of good as the Kings defeated Greely 4-1 at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Saturday night.

“It got heated; I think we got a little rivalry against Greely,” Isaac Ormberg said. “I am glad we just pulled out the win.”

Ormberg had two goals to lead the Kings (10-3). Ian Guerin made 15 saves in goal for the victory.

“This is a big win for us, we were sitting in second, we want to get into first, 10-(3),” Guerin said. “It was a big (Heal) point game for us.”

The Kings sit about two-and-half points behind Cheverus/Yarmouth for first place in Class B South. Greely is in fourth.

The game tilted to the Kings’ direction midway through the first period when Keach received a five-minute major and the Rangers (10-3) were heading to a power play, but the Greely coaching staff wasn’t pleased that Keach got a boarding call and not a hitting-from-behind call, which would result in an ejection and Keach would have been suspended for the Kings next game on Thursday, also against Greely.

“I guess they called boarding and there’s some discretion with the boarding (penalty),” Greely coach Barry Mothes said. “I haven’t looked at it closely enough. I thought it looked more like a hit from behind than a board. Obviously, it’s the officials’ call and that whole sequence had an impact on the flow and tenor of the game.”

The Greely coaches argued with the referees for a few minutes, and an assistant coach was ejected, which resulted in Greely getting a bench minor.

“I am not sure what they were arguing about,” Kings coach Jason Rouleau said. “One of their coaches got ejected from the game, and I got our guys and said we need to stay focused 4-on-4, continue to work hard.”

While the teams skated 4-on-4, Cullen Rafford took a minor penalty to give the Kings a 4-on-3 power play, but they couldn’t convert. When the teams got back to 4-on-4, Brody Emond found Ormberg to give the Kings a 1-0 lead.

“It’s great to get the starting goal; it gives our team momentum,” Ormberg said. “It helps that we are at home, too.”

Connor Boulay found the back of the net with under five minutes remaining in the first period, giving the Kings a 2-0 lead.

“It was huge for us,” Rouleau said of the goal. “First off, it was a great play, great pass — great finish by Connor. It helped us to build that momentum.”

Ormberg found himself in the box early in the second period for a minor penalty, but he redeemed himself by receiving a pass after getting out of the sin bin. With two Rangers on his tail, Ormberg got a shot off and beat Greely goalie Will Klein for a 3-0 lead.

“I saw the puck coming to my stick, I tapped it out at the blue line and I made a little move forehand,” Ormberg. “I went in and scored.”

Keach potted a goal to extend the Kings’ lead to 4-0 midway through the second period.

“It was another huge goal,” Rouleau said. “Will was determined to get the puck to the net. He got the puck to the net, and he finished. It was really a strong play by him.”

Greely had a 5-on-3 power play later in the period but ended up taking a penalty early on in the man advantage.

Finn Craven broke Guerin’s shutout bid with about five minutes remaining in the game.

“The puck ended up right in the slot and the guy put a great shot on it,” Guerin said. “It happens.”

Mothes said the Rangers had other opportunities throughout the game.

“I thought we created some offensive chances tonight,” Mothes said. “I haven’t really had the chance to tabulate the shots. I guess it said 22-16, but I thought we generated some chances. They did clog up the middle and block shots, like all good teams do. We had some partial breakaways and odd-man rushes, and we had some good looks on the power play. I feel like, if we had been a little more opportunistic, we would have had a few more.”

The two teams meet again Thursday in Falmouth.

“It’s going to be another heated one at their house,” Ormberg said. “Hopefully, we can go in there and get the win.”

Mothes said the Rangers are also looking forward to the rematch at Family Ice Center.

“It’s going to be a stiff challenge Thursday night and we are very aware of that,” Mothes said. “But that’s what you want to be playing for. We are trying to finish as high as we can in the standings and trying to see how we match up against top teams. That’s actually our first loss in Class B so far this year. They have been on a strong streak and it will be a fun challenge Thursday night at Family Ice.”

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