In a year that has been anything but normal, a little normalcy came back to the Reedsburg Area Community Arena. November means the WIAA hockey season should be underway. The Waupaca Comets took the bus ride to Reedsburg as both teams were opening their 2020-21 hockey season. While the rink was short on fans, the action on the ice is the same. Coaches are continuing to teach their players how to play hockey and the players are giving everything they have on the ice with an effort to post a victory.

The Comets opened the scoring quickly in the first period. Sawyer Mielke took the puck deep into the offensive line and zipped a pass to Levi Olsen from behind the goal line. Olsen proceeded to one-time the puck into the net putting the Comets up 1-0 only 58 seconds into the game. Braeden Ryan scored a goal with an assist from Eli Bartel at 6:41 of the first giving Waupaca a 2-0 lead. The first period concluded with Waupaca holding a two goal lead.

The second period saw RWD take the ice with a team focused on cutting into the Comets’ lead. When the Comets were called for a penalty at 7:38 of the period, the Cheavers took advantage. Caden Brandt was scored a power play goal with Connor Schyvinck and Trevor Slaght assisting at 7:54 of the period. RWD tied the game at 9:31 as Grant Marsich and Danny Ely assisted on Caden Brandt’s goal. Caden Brandt picked up his third goal of the game with an assist from Danny Ely with 7:03 left in the second. RWD finished the period with a 3-2 lead.

Danny Ely gave RWD a two goal lead on a power play goal with an assist from Connor Schyvinck at 4:07 of the third. Both teams played hard and Waupaca pulled their goaltender, Hagen Rasmussen, with 1:43 remaining in the game. Danny Ely sealed the victory for RWD with an empty net goal assisted by Caden Brandt.

Hagen Rasmussen finished the game with 24 saves on 28 shots. Cooper Oakes had 23 saves on 25 shots. Waupaca will host Beaver Dam on Thursday, December 3rd for their next game. RWD’s next game will be in Reedsburg with Wisconsin Rapids.