The Waupaca boys’ hockey team wrapped up the regular season on a positive note Feb. 14 with a 4-2 Great Northern Conference win over Rhinelander at the Waupaca Ice & Expo Center.
The Comets also handed Medford a 6-0 loss Feb. 12 and tied Ashwaubenon 3-3 Feb. 10.
Waupaca 4, Rhinelander 2
Elliot Crisman gave Waupaca a 1-0 lead 2:32 into the game and the Comets added a pair of goals in the second period.
Zane Johnson and Garrett Johnson scored to give the Comets a 3-0 lead in the second period before Kade Kennedy put the Hodags on the board to make it 3-1 heading into the final period.
Frankie Ellingson scored for Waupaca in the third period, while Rhinelander’s Cody Vinger added his team’s second goal with 39 seconds to go in the game.
Ben Stone had two assists for Waupaca, while Ellingson, Drew Simonson and Austin Erickson added one each.
Waupaca outshot the Hodags 38-27.
Waupaca 6, Medford 0
The Comets scored four times in the third period in a win over the Raiders.
Erickson picked up a hat trick with a goal in the first period and two more in the third. Hunter Smith, Zane Johnson and Cannon Hermanson also scored for Waupaca. Ellingson, Stone, Erickson, Crisman and Max Menzies had assists for Waupaca.
The Comets outshot the Raiders 72-19.
Waupaca 3, Ashwaubenon 3 (OT)
Ashwaubenon took a 2-1 lead into the second period at the Cornerstone Ice Center, but Waupaca scored a pair of answered goals in the second for a 3-2 lead.
The Jaguars tied the game with a goal in the third period and neither team scored in overtime.
Crisman found the net in the first period for the Comets and Erickson scored Waupaca’s two goals in the second period.
Waupaca outshot Ashwaubenon 39-24.
The Comets and Jaguars met for the second time in a week Feb. 17 at the Expo in the first round of the WIAA state tournament. The winner of that game will face top-seeded Bay Port at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20 at the Cornerstone Ice Center in Ashwaubenon.