Colby Carnes had a goal in four of the last five games for the Cheverus/Yarmouth boys hockey team before the Class B South semifinals Saturday. The lone game in which he didn’t score was a win over Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester in the second-to-last game of the regular season.

He wasn’t held scoreless Saturday.

Carnes scored three goals to lift the defending state champion to a 3-1 win over the Poland co-op at Troubh Ice Arena in Portland.

Cheverus/Yarmouth (17-2-1) will face No. 3 Gorham in the regional final Tuesday at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

“A lot of them have been pucks popping out and being ready for them,” Carnes said. “Always having your stick on the ice; being ready to bury at any time. So, yeah, just being puck-ready whenever you’re around the puck is huge.”

Cheverus/Yarmouth coach David St. Pierre credits Carnes’ defensive partner, Owen Cheever, with providing Carnes the freedom to jump into the attack.

“Yeah, he works hard in practice,” St. Pierre said. “He works hard on his shot. He’s got a great partner in Owen Cheever (who) allows him to get free for good looks. He’s also very opportunistic on loose pucks, and when he gets a chance to shoot a puck, he can fire it, and goalies are at a disadvantage there.”

How did Cheverus/Yarmouth win?

• Cheverus/Yarmouth got a big break early in the first period when Mason Aldrich received a five-minute major for contact to the head and then Brody Emond took a slashing minor, creating a 5-on-3 power play. The Kings (11-9) killed Emond’s penalty, but Carnes knocked in a loose puck with nine seconds remaining in Aldrich’s penalty for a 1-0 advantage.

• Cheverus/Yarmouth goalie Ethan Tucker did a good job keeping the Kings at bay. It took a short-sided shot just inside the post in the second period by Breck Langevin to get something behind Tucker.

• The penalty kill for Cheverus/Yarmouth was a difference-maker in the third period. The Kings had an early power play on which Emond and Langevin got some looks but couldn’t tie it up. The penalty-kill unit also denied the Kings later in the period.

“Our PK has been pretty strong all year,” Tucker said. “We practiced it quite a bit, and we have a pretty good percentage … and we had some really big blocks in front. We had, I think, three in a row, and then we got the puck out of our zone.”

They said it

• “Yeah, I mean, we got fortunate to get nice power-play time there. We’ve been working on the power play and getting pucks to the net, and Colby’s done a great job of just battling in front, and he buried one there for us.” — David St. Pierre

• “I mean, it feels incredible. I mean, this is what we’ve been working for all season and waking up at 4 a.m. every morning, grinding … like working hard every day. So we’re just happy to be here.” — Colby Carnes

• “Yeah, I mean, certainly their goaltender is a very good goaltender, and just one of those days, it seems like it’s always one of those days against this team for us in terms of pucks bouncing our way versus pucks bouncing their way, but we played hard, they played hard, and unfortunately, we came up short during the game.” — Kings coach Jason Rouleau

Statistical leaders

• PLOG: Langevin (goal), Emond (assist), Reid Trepaney (22 saves)

• Cheverus/Yarmouth: Carnes (three goals), Brady Martin (three assists), Tucker (20 saves)