This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield boys hockey team’s season came to an end Thursday night with a 5-1 loss to Waupaca in a WIAA Division 2 regional final at the Marshfield Area Ice Arena.
Marshfield defeated Waupaca 6-1 on the road back on Jan. 21, but things were much different Thursday.
Waupaca set the pace offensively, challenging Marshfield goalie A.J. Trierweiler to the tune of 50 shots on goal, five of which slipped past the Tigers’ stopper.
Following a scoreless opening eight minutes, Jack Erspamer gave Waupaca a 1-0 lead with a goal with 8:13 to go in the first period.
The score remained the same until the Comets had a pair of goals in a two-minute stretch midway through the second period. Braeden Ryan scored twice, both on assists from Jed Vanden Bush, to give Waupaca a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the third.
Marshfield scored on a power play 2:41 into the period when Evan Weister placed a shot past Waupaca goalie Hagen Rasmussen, but that would be all the Tigers could muster.
Eli Bartel and Erspamer added goals to finish off the win for Waupaca and send them to sectionals.
Fifth-seeded Waupaca (8-15-1) will take on No. 1 seed Northland Pines (20-4) in a sectional semifinal in Minocqua on Tuesday. Mosinee and Rhinelander/Three Lakes will play in the other sectional semifinal, with the two winners meeting up at Mosinee on Feb. 29 for a spot in the state tournament.
Marshfield finishes its season with a 13-11-1 record.
Comets 5, Tigers 1
Waupaca 1 2 2 – 5
Marshfield 0 0 1 – 1
First period: 1. W, Jack Erspamer (Davis Levine), 8:47.
Second period: 2. W, Braeden Ryan (Jed Vanden Bush), 7:02; 3. W, Ryan (Vanden Bush), pp., 9:14.
Third period: 4. M, Evan Weister (Sawyer Schindler, Nick Urban), pp., 2:41; 5. W, Eli Bartel (Garrett Bohm), pp., 14:55; 6. W, Erspamer (Bartel, Levine), 16:12.
Saves: W, Hagen Rasmussen 28; M, A.J. Trierweiler 45.
Records: Waupaca 8-15-1; Marshfield 13-11-1.