The KUA Boys’ Ice Hockey Team is a proud member of the highly competitive Lakes Region League and holds a strong legacy within New England prep school hockey. The team has achieved numerous accomplishments, including multiple Lakes Region Championships, New England Prep Tournament appearances, and NEPSAC Elite Division Championships in 1982, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2024.
While competing for championships and postseason success is always an exciting achievement, the program’s primary focus is on the development of student-athletes aspiring to play at the collegiate level. KUA hockey alumni have gone on to compete at a variety of Division I and III schools, such as Boston College, Cornell University, Northeastern University, University of Vermont, Trinity College, Bowdoin College, and Middlebury College, as well as pursuing careers in professional hockey.
The foundation of the program’s success starts with its experienced coaching staff. KUA’s Head Coach is Tim Whitehead, a seasoned leader with a rich history in collegiate and prep hockey. Prior to joining KUA, Coach Whitehead spent 25 years coaching at the NCAA level, including head coaching stints at the University of Maine and UMass Lowell. His teams made numerous NCAA Tournament appearances, including 4 Frozen Fours and 2National Championship games.
Learn More About Playing at KUA
If you would like to learn more about our Varsity Boys’ Ice Hockey program and the full KUA experience, feel free to email Coach Whitehead at twhitehead@kua.org or start the process with the Office of Admission.
Tim Whitehead was the Head Hockey Coach at the University of Maine from 2001-2013. A six-time finalist for the Spencer Penrose Trophy as Division I National Coach of the Year, Whitehead won the award in 2002. In 2012, he led the Black Bears to their 7th NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years, a run that included four Frozen Fours, two National Championship games, and the 2004 Hockey East Championship. While at Maine, Whitehead was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest academic honor society, "for outstanding commitment to academic excellence at the University of Maine." In 2013, his men's hockey team earned its 13th consecutive team GPA at 3.0 or above.
Prior to his position at Maine, Whitehead was the Head Coach at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and also served as an Assistant Coach at UMass Lowell, Maine, and Middlebury College. Prior to that, he taught history and social studies at St Gregory The Great School in Hamilton, NJ and at John Baptist High School in Bangor, ME. Whitehead played professional hockey in Europe before starting his teaching & coaching career. He earned his undergraduate degree at Hamilton College and his Master's degree in Education at the University of Maine, graduating summa cum laude.
After growing up in Marblehead Massachusetts, Bryant attended Kimball Union Academy and graduated in 2004. While on the hilltop, Bryant was a four-year, three sport varsity athlete. He was a lacrosse co-captain, a hockey assistant captain, and a two-year soccer captain. Bryant was a residential proctor, Orange Key awarded head tour guide and senior class president. Bryant was also named the KUA athlete of the year in his senior year. Following graduation, he took a year off and played Junior Hockey in Massachusetts where he was named to the all EJHL team. He then attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges where he majored in Philosophy and PreMed for a focus in BioMed Ethics, with a minor in Environmental Studies. He played Varsity Soccer as well as Varsity Ice Hockey and was, in his freshman year, named as the Ice Hockey Rookie of the year. In his senior year Bryant captained the Varsity Ice Hockey team.
Coming from a long line of teachers, for Bryant, education has always been at the forefront for him. He offers a diverse perspective and background, as his own experiences in school were quite similar to those of the students with which he works. In his time at Kimball Union Academy, professionally, he has strived to develop his understanding and has been working toward an advanced degree in the field. Bryant is a Varsity Lacrosse and Varsity Hockey Assistant Coach, he is a dorm parent in Dexter Richards and does extensive work regarding diversity and race on campus.
Matt joined the KUA community in 2016 and is the product of a boarding school, having graduated from Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Canada. Matt then studied and played four years of hockey at Cornell University where he was an NCAA All-American and ECAC Goaltender of the Year in 2002. Matt was selected by the Calgary Flames in the 1999 NHL draft and from 2002-2006 he played professional hockey, including a stint with the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL as well as with several teams in the American Hockey League and the East Coast Hockey League, where he was named Goaltender of the Year in 2006.
Matt holds a BA in Linguistics from Cornell and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Simmons College. In addition to teaching English at KUA, Matt serves as an Assistant Coach for Boys Varsity Hockey and as the Head Coach for Varsity Softball. Prior to joining KUA, Matt spent ten years teaching English and serving as the Head Baseball Coach and 9th grade faculty leader at Boston Collegiate Charter School in Dorchester, MA. He was also an Assistant Varsity Hockey Coach at Milton Academy from 2011-2016.
Matt and his wife Elizabeth have three children: Audrey, James, and Ellis.
Paul Dore scored on a snapshot from the left wing with 56 seconds left in the game to break a 3-3 tie and lift the Kimball Union Wildcats to their third consecutive NEPSAC hockey championship. In a game that saw Salisbury hold two separate two-goal leads, the Wildcats battled to come back and took control of the game late in the second. Salisbury capitalized on a lucky bounce to take a 1-0 lead after the first and jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the second. However, KUA answered as Arlo Merritt roofed a wrist shot on the rush to bring the Wildcats within one. Salisbury tallied again shortly after but a powerplay goal by Tomas Mazura and a shorthanded goal by Zach Taylor with 30 seconds left in the period knotted the game heading into the third. KUA controlled the pace of the game for the final period and set the stage for Dore’s dramatic game-winner. Veeti Kohvakka was excellent in the KUA net, making 25 saves.
Zach Whitehead scored two goals and Veeti Kohvakka made 21 saves as the #2 seed Kimball Union Wildcats (28-4-2) topped the #3 seed Lawrence Academy 5-1 on Saturday to set up a NEPSAC championship rematch with Salisbury at St. Anselm’s on Sunday at 5:00. The Wildcats took the lead early in the game when Paul Dore tipped home a Zach Taylor shot at 6:53 of the first period. On its next shift, the line of Dore, Taylor, and Seth Stadheim struck again as Dore fed Stadheim in the slot. The Lyme, NH native converted a one-timer for his second straight game-winning goal of the playoffs. With three minutes remaining in the first, Whitehead tipped home a pass from Sullivan Mack to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead after one. Lawrence converted early in the second, but with only 26 seconds left in the frame, Whitehead scored a crucial goal as he found the top corner on a rush after a nice set up from Devan Newhook and Tomas Mazura. With a 4-1 lead in the third, the Wildcats kept pressing and a blocked shot on the penalty kill by Kyle Penney led to an incredible individual effort by Arlo Merritt, who undressed a Lawrence defender on a one-on-one before deking the goalie and tucking the puck home.
Seth Stadheim scored with two minutes to play to help lift the Kimball Union Wildcats to a 1-0 over Gunnery School in the quarterfinals of the New England Prep School Championship. Despite having eight powerplays, KUA could not convert with the man advantage and the game remained scoreless until Sullivan Mack and Zach Whitehead set up Stadheim on the rush, where he wristed a shot past the Gunnery goalie with 1:56 left on the clock. Veeti Kohvakka earned the shutout in net, stopping 18 shots. With the win, KUA (28-4-2) advances to the semifinals, where they host Lawrence Academy on Saturday at 3:30 in Meriden.