Take two top-rated teams, mix in two exciting, high-scoring forwards, a sprinkle of hard-playing intensity, and the result is the contest between Ashwaubenon and Waupaca Tuesday evening at the Waupaca Expo Center.

The eight-ranked Jaguars upset sixth-rated Waupaca 4-3 in non-conference action behind the stellar play of freshman goalie Ryan Wischow, who turned away 36 shots in the affair.

Ashwaubenon started out the scoring early in the first, courtesy of some crisp passing. Right defenseman Billy Maes gathered in the puck at the point, and whipped a pass over to his partner, Matthew Berkovitz, at the left point. The freshman ripped a low shot that beat Comets goalie Zach Martin between the pads for a 1-0 lead at the 3:27 mark.

Waupaca evened up the game a few minutes later while on the power play. Defenseman Sam Menzies' shot was turned aside, only to be gathered up by Brad Navin in the right corner. He turned and rifled a pass through traffic to Tyler Donaldson, who calmly stuffed the puck in the net past Wischow at the 8:43 mark.

Navin had a chance on a semi-breakaway a couple minutes later, but was stoned by Wischow to thwart the threat. The Comets held a huge 18-7 shot edge in the period.

Navin got Waupaca on the board again early in the second, assisted by Marcus Johnson and Menzies at the 1:43 mark to give the Comets a 2-1 lead.

Although the action was from end-to-end most of the period, there was no further scoring until just over two minutes left in the stanza. Austin Berkovitz pulled in a cross-ice pass from Cal DeRosier and beat Martin on the stick side from the back door to tie the contest at two. Jordan Carpenter also received an assist on the play.

Donaldson gave Waupaca a 3-2 lead when he scored at the 1:38 mark with assists from Navin and Bjorn Asher.

Any thoughts of heading to the locker room with a lead were ended by DeRosier.

The leading goal-scorer in the state (12) made his presence known twice in less than six seconds. First, he nearly scored on a breakaway with 5.5 seconds left, only to have his effort stopped by Martin. Then, on the ensuing faceoff, DeRosier got the puck on the back-door and this time beat Martin with just 1.5 seconds left to tie the game at three. Matthew Berkovitz assisted on the score, which was a power play goal.

"Cal's our catalyst," said Ashwaubenon coach Ryan Thomas. "That was a clutch goal."

Waupaca outshot the guests by a 15-10 margin in the period.

It took over five minutes before a goal was scored in the third, but this was the biggest one in the game.

The Jaguars' Nick LeSage scored from the left circle for a 4-3 lead at the 5:06 mark. He was assisted by Filip Chlupac and Matthew Berkovitz.

Waupaca's best chance came midway through the period while on a power play, but the Comets were unable to score. 

Then, with just under a minute left in the contest, Martin came off for an extra attacker, but the visitors stayed resolute and kept the puck out of the net for a one-goal win. The Jags held a slight 7-6 shot margin in the period.

Martin stopped 20 shots for Waupaca, who fell to 5-1, while the Jags improved to 5-0, cementing their spot in the WiPH Top Ten.

"It was a heck of a game and I'm glad my team came out and finished that third period strong," commented Thomas.

Wischow was the story on the other end of the ice with his three dozen saves. "Ryan hasn't been tested much this year," said Thomas. "It was nice to see him come up with some big saves and I know he has been waiting for a game like this and he got the 'W'.

"We're 5-0 and moving up and I hope that people will recognize Ashwaubenon as a threat this year."