Jared Sprink and Bryce Hladovcak each scored twice and Wade Michalski stopped 35 shots as Mosinee defeated ninth-ranked Waupaca 4-2 Friday night at the K.B. Willett Arena in opening round play in the Sentry Hockey Classic.

The first period was scoreless in the WiPH Game of Week, but hardly without action. Mosinee's Justin Edwards had the first good chance, but he clanked one off the right post during a scrum in front of a wide-open net a little over four minutes into the game.

Waupaca's Brad Navin drew some iron too, as he was dragged to the ice late in the period. His Ovechkin-like shot rang off the crossbar with about six minutes left to keep the score at zero.

Mosinee was unable to capitalize on three power play chances in the period.

"It looked like two heavyweight fighters throwing jabs at each other the whole first period," said Waupaca coach Randy Flesch. "Who wanted to go on offense?"

The Indians got on the board first when Hladovcak's shot from the top of the left circle slipped through Waupaca goalie Zach Martin's pads at the 2:46 mark of the second while on the power play. Zach Pyan got an assist on the play.

Sprink made it 2-0 just under nine minutes later when he scored from the low slot area on an unassisted chance.

Waupaca had some opportunities, but Bjorn Asher's breakaway attempt clipped off the left post, and a few seconds later, Michalski made a nice stop to keep the Comets off the board.

"Wade's been doing it all year for us," commented Mosinee coach Derek Yirkovsky. "He's seen all these big games before and he wants it. I haven't seen a goaltender better than him yet so far this year."

Mosinee once again capitalized on the man-advantage when Sprink received a pass from Jacob Hrebik and beat Martin through the wickets from the left circle to make it 3-0 with 43 seconds left in the period. Austin McCarthy also was credited with a helper on the play.

"We wanted to make those penalties hurt on the board," said Yirkovsky.

"Between periods, I told the boys we needed to get going and we did--right to the penalty box," noted Flesch. "They had power play goals on us."

Waupaca cut the lead to 3-1 with Jared Erickson's rebound goal at 3:22 of the third. Navin and James Minton notched assists on the play.

Less than three minutes later, the Comets blazed bright once again while on the power play. Navin grabbed a rebound down low and flipped it past Michalski's outstretched blocker to cut the lead to 3-2 for a shorty at 6:11, with the assist to Asher.

Hladovcak shattered the comeback dreams of Waupaca when he stole the puck in his offensive zone, walked to the high slot, and beat Martin high on the glove side to give Mosinee a 4-2 advantage at 9:41.

Disaster soon struck for Waupaca, when on the ensuing face-off Asher was assessed with a five-minute major and a DQ for kicking. Another Comet penalty gave Mosinee a 5-on-3 for just less than two minutes, but the Comets came through with a nice kill.

"We beat ourselves," said Flesch.

Mosinee almost tacked on another goal, but it was waved off as the net came dislodged with just over three minutes to play.

The Comets pulled Martin for an extra attacker for the last 80 seconds, but were unable to score as Mosinee skated off with a hard-fought 4-2 conference win, giving them a three-point lead in the Great Northern.

"We have a long way to go in conference and it sure is nice to have a three point lead, but it's far from over," noted Yirkovsky.

The two teams will meet in Waupaca for a re-match on February 8 in a contest that could very well decide the Great Northen champ. "(Mosinee) split with us last year, now we need to split with them this year," said Flesch. "We're going to have to go to work and try to overcome this one."

"We're not satisfied; we want to get down to Madison again," said Yirkovsky. "We had a taste of it four years ago. My seniors were on the team as freshmen and that's all they have been dreaming about--going back there."

Martin had 29 saves for Waupaca, who dropped to 9-2-1. They will face Stevens Point Saturday evening at 7:15.

The Indians improved to 9-2 and will challenge Green Bay United at 5:00 Saturday evening for the Sentry Classic championship.