Beat Hamden, Connecticut 6-2 in championship game

WEHL 16U NE 1 defeated the Hamden, Connecticut Dragons 6-2 on Sunday morning in the 2025 USA Hockey 16U Tier II 2A championship game held in New Jersey.

After a scoreless first period, the boys from Wisconsin exploded with four goals in the second period. Cale Adamovich of Fox Cities got the scoring started with an assist by Waupun’s Jacob Koerner to give WEHL a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later Hamden scored to tie the game, 1-1. That was the closest Hamden got the rest of the game because it was all Wisconsin after that.

Just seconds after Hamden tied the game, 1-1, it was a trio of players from the Neenah/Hortonville/Menasha Rockets that exploded in the second period. Cartyr Simonson scored an unassisted goal to give WEHL NE a 2-1 lead. Cartyr Simonson added his second goal only 30 seconds later with assists by NHM’s Brady Rozmarynowski and Zach Verhagen to increase WEHL’s lead to 3-1. In the final minute of the second period Zach Verhagen scored an unassisted goal to lift WEHL’s lead to 4-1. The second period ended with WEHL leading 4-1.

In the third period WEHL’s lead was cut to 4-2 when Hamden scored with 12:24 on the clock. With 2:30 remaining, Jack O’Brien of Notre Dame Academy scored to increase WEHL’s lead to 5-2, with assists to Cale Adamovich and Cartyr Simonson. Cartyr Simonson sealed the victory when he scored an unassisted goal with 1:21 on the clock.

Cartyr Simonson finished the game with three goals and one assist. Simonson’s NHM Rockets teammate, Matthew Nelson, had 17 saves. WEHL outshot Hamden 27-19.

“The team all pitched in and one by one we made it through the tournament. I am excited and happy! Once we got on the board, it just clicked. I got the first one and then the second on the same shift. We had the lead in the third period and then just buried them. It was fun to win it with all my friends!” Cartyr Simonson, 10th grade, NHM Rockets

“I feel amazing. It hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s a great feeling. Teams were coming at us and very aggressive. We were on the smaller side, so we had to beat teams with our speed. We were one of the faster teams. We had great chemistry, and it helped us throughout the tournament. We turned it around after our OT loss and we got our heads back and we really put it all together. It was very impressive.” Teigue Wagner, 11th grade, St. Mary’s Springs

“Unreal experience, and so proud and happy for this great group of players I had the honor to work with and coach.  Each game was a battle, and we had to keep playing our style of hockey and stick with speed and the utmost compete level.  Hats off to Hamden on a hard fought game.  Congrats to my crew again….love them all like my own!” Coach John Kriz

Congratulations to all the players, coaches, and staff!

Yours for hockey, Matt Carey