Tim Whitehead has set the bar high at Kimball Union.
The Wildcats entered this season having made nine consecutive Elite 8 appearances under the direction of the longtime Division 1 college head coach, with the high-scoring top line of Jack Sadowski (Arlington, Mass.), Corwith Simmers and Sam LeDrew leading them to a fourth championship during that span last season.
With Sadowski and LeDrew graduating, the top of the lineup would look different this winter.
“We knew we’d probably be younger and might not have the same knockout punch (from a scoring standpoint) as last year,” Whitehead said. “But more and more guys stepped up as the year went on and took pressure off the top group.”
Promise for yet another Elite 8 berth remained throughout most of this winter, but the Wildcats had to overcome numerous injuries and illnesses and wound up missing the eight-team field by percentage points.
After losing just once in regulation during the 2024 portion of the schedule, they lost two out of three games twice in January and three out of four near the end of the regular season in February. But when senior co-captains Simmers and CJ Watroba (West Springfield, Mass.) saw their team as a No. 1 seed in the NEPSAC Small bracket, their mindset and goals remained the same.
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“When we realized we were going to be in the Small School, nobody was sulking about it,” said Watroba, a Merrimack commit. “We were excited for the chance to be able to play … and win our last game together. I think that motivated us to play really well in the end.”
The Wildcats certainly found their winning ways down the stretch, finishing a 27-8-2 season by beating rival Holderness to win the Lakes Region and then completing a three-game march to the New England championship all within an eight-day span.
After scoring a combined 19 goals against Frederick Gunn and St. George’s in the first two playoff rounds, the run to the title concluded on March 9 with a 5-3 victory over Berkshire.
“Perhaps (the Small School is) the tournament we were supposed to be in, so we wanted to make the most of it,” Whitehead said. “The guys did. They played three good games against three good opponents. Especially the last game, it didn’t come easy, but the guys battled through it and found a way to win.”
Watroba joined Simmers and fellow senior Iain Olsen (Vergennes, Vt.) on the initial iteration of the team’s top line this season and ultimately emerged as the top scorer with 24 goals and 47 points. But the strength of the team had to be the depth as it overcame a variety of roster challenges.
“After everyone got healthy, we came together and talked about our expectations and how we still had a chance to do something special,” said Simmers, a 25-goal scorer last season who missed six weeks before the playoffs due to a knee injury.
“Everyone put their best effort into everything and we won out and got it done,” he added. “We all knew we had the talent and the capability to beat anyone in New England, so there was plenty of confidence.”
Not only was confidence drawn from many of the Wildcats having big-game experience from last year, but also Whitehead made it a point to test his team in four different tournaments — the Stanstead College Invitational, Phillips Exeter Showcase, Flood-Marr and the GameSheet Cup — throughout this season.
Those games set up Kimball Union for success when it mattered most. Still, everything began with the leadership core.
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“We had great leaders on the team,” senior goaltender Blake McMeniman (Revere, Mass.) said of Simmers, Watroba and assistant captains Caden Barnard (Falmouth, Maine) and Max Kimelman. “They’d be hard on guys on the ice wanting them to get better, but also let them know that it’s OK to make mistakes. There was a good balance of letting everyone play loose but play well. … Everybody played their role well and did what they were supposed to do.”
Simmers and Watroba took it upon themselves to set the Kimball Union culture right from the start, laying the groundwork for a team atmosphere in conversations with each of the newcomers before the school year began in September.
“Corwith and I learned a lot from (the previous season) and tried to carry the same mindset of really trying to make the team better as a whole,” Watroba said. “I think that was able to help a lot of guys develop their games and ultimately help us win.”
Olsen shined the brightest on the big stage, recording four goals and eight assists in the playoffs. His third-period insurance goal came on a high-level shot under the crossbar, setting the Wildcats up to play with poise in the final minutes en route to the title.
Junior Josh Phillips, who bumped up to the top line when Simmers was hurt, led the way with a two-goal championship game, while McMeniman made 25 saves as the backbone of a second straight title run. He also pitched a 27-save shutout in the semifinal round.
“Blake was such a calming force for us in net. Never gets rattled,” Whitehead said. “Every aspect of his game is top-notch. … It takes a lot of courage to take an undersized goalie at the college level, but I wouldn’t bet against this kid.”
There were plenty of less heralded stars, too. Whitehead pointed to senior defenseman Bleyton Hopps-Thompson, a soon-to-be scholarship lacrosse player at Lehigh who got the game puck in the deciding playoff victory for his physical presence.
“He was just a heart and soul part of our team,” Whitehead said. “He blocks shots, plays in all our penalty-kill situations, and actually set up the first goal by taking a hit and getting his shot on net that Josh Phillips scored on. … That’s a great example of different guys stepping up.”
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Indeed, Wildcats like Hopps-Thompson stepped up and made their mark throughout the season. And it all led back to the top of the New England ranks in March.
