Milwaukee, WI
These five area high school hockey teams look like state title contenders in 2025
KMMO Co-op boys hockey defeats Cedarburg, 7-2, Jan. 17
KMMO Co-op boys hockey defeats Cedarburg, 7-2, at Naga-Waukee Ice Arena in Delafield on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025.
Greater Milwaukee area programs in the field of Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association statewide boys and girls hockey teams are beginning to emerge as state title contenders as the postseason looms in mid-February.
The road to state begins with the start of regional play Feb. 18, sectionals beginning Feb. 25 and concluding with the WIAA state boys and girls hockey tournaments March 6-8 at Bob Suter’s LEGACY20 Arena in Middleton.
Here are five boys and girls programs gearing up for WIAA state runs, along with three sleeper teams to keep an eye on over the latter half of the season.
Arrowhead Warhawks boys hockey
The Arrowhead boys have not reached the WIAA state tournament since 2017, but the Warhawks look like a program that can contend with just about any team they meet on the ice this season. A 13-3 record entering the week speaks to their dominance, but even their losses have come close to some of the best programs in the state. Losses of 8-6 to Brookfield, 4-3 to Fond du Lac Springs and 7-4 to Muskego co-op all were late-breaking wins for the opponent in the third period. Those losses all came on the road, which Arrowhead has improved on over the course of the season. The Warhawks have won five straight on the road as part of an eight-game winning streak dating to Dec. 26. Arrowhead has scored with some of the best teams in the state led by Jack McKenna’s 55 points, but the defense led in goal by Ethan Burkard has also excelled. Seven opponents have been held to one goal or less, including two shutouts. Arrowhead will need that defense to travel should it make a run in the WIAA postseason.
Brookfield Stars boys hockey
The Brookfield-based co-op consisting of Brookfield Central, Brookfield East, Wauwatosa East, Wauwatosa West, Menomonee Falls and Sussex Hamilton students reached the WIAA state title game last year, losing 3-1 to Notre Dame in the title game. The 2024-25 team has come back on a mission this year, surging to a 14-2 record through action Wednesday night. It was an undefeated regular season up until a home and away series with Lake Forest Academy (Ill.) on Sunday and Monday, but the Stars have largely dominated in-state competition. Most notable of their 14 wins was a 7-2 rematch of last year’s state title game over Notre Dame, in which Brookfield scored seven unanswered goals to earn the victory. Other quality wins include a 4-2 decision over Madison Edgewood on Jan. 4 and victories over the top three teams trailing them in the Classic 8 Conference (9-3 over West Bend, 7-1 over KMMO and 8-6 over Arrowhead). The Stars are bursting with star potential, featuring two of the state leaders in points in Connor Hillig (55) and Cooper Simon (53) supplemented by the contributions of Adam Sexton (34), Parker Dysart (33) and Jack Templeton (28). This team is loaded with talent and experience, an excellent combo to have for any team looking to make a run in late February or early March.
Lakeshore Lightning girls hockey
Winning and losing have come in spurts for the Lightning this season, but there have been far more good stretches than bad for a team entering the week 12-5-1 on the season. A 3-2 Nov. 29 win over current Badger Conference leader Beaver Dam and knocking off Arrowhead in a 3-1 final Jan. 7 are feathers in the cap of the Lightning, but a couple other matchups with top teams in the state have not gone their way. A Jan. 28 meeting with the Fond du Lac Warbirds (14-4) will be a good test for Lakeshore as it attempts to prove it is in the conversation as a title contender. The Lightning can get scoring from a variety of avenues with seven players accumulating double-digit points, but will rarely find themselves in high-scoring affairs. Elizabeth Bowers (91.2 save percentage) has been a stalwart in goal, shutting out five opponents this season.
Muskego co-op Ice Force boys hockey
Muskego co-op’s three-headed attack of Ben Brown (52 points), Andrew Kunz (43) and Rogan Dewane (30) has led the Ice Force to a 12-5 record as the team chases a program-first state appearance. The Ice Force thrive in high scoring games, going 10-1 this season when scoring six goals or more. On the season, Muskego has hovered around the bottom half of the top 10 in goal-scoring for the state. The Warriors are set to face West Bend on Saturday in a matchup of teams chasing Brookfield for the Classic 8 Conference title. Matchups with Brookfield on Feb. 1 and McFarland on Feb. 7 should also provide a barometer for where this team is at as the postseason looms.
University School of Milwaukee boys hockey
Aside from a 10-1 Jan. 18 loss to SPASH, one of the leading statewide contenders for a WIAA state title, USM has looked the part of another potential contender with an 11-4 record. Another of those four losses came 5-2 to SPASH earlier this year, putting a dent in an otherwise stellar performance this season. The Wildcats are one of just three teams to knock off Neenah/Hortonville/Menasha this year, beating the Rockets 4-3 on Jan. 9. USM also beat another conference leader out of the Big 8 in Middleton on Jan. 17, winning 5-4. This is a young and emerging program, with five of its top six scoring leaders being juniors or younger. That list includes sophomore Everett Waltersdorf (27 points), junior Tyler Cook (25), senior Mateo Nunag (21), junior Henry Bechthold (18), junior Liam Fetherston (13) and junior Davie Moalusi (11).
Sleeper programs to watch
Arrowhead girls hockey, KMMO boys hockey, West Bend boys hockey
Milwaukee Wave coach Marcio Leite on goalkeeper Jerry Perez’s offense
Milwaukee Wave Marcio Leite tells the origin story of the rookie goalkeepr who has become a serious scoring threat in the MASL.
Shoves escalated between the Milwaukee Wave and San Diego Sockers and fans got involved in the unpleasantries, turning the conclusion of Game 1 of the MASL championship series ugly.
In the final seconds of the Sockers’ 5-4 victory April 22 at the UWM Panther Arena, Wave defender Tony Walls took a kick to the groin on a play that ended any chance for a traditional exchange of handshakes and hugs.
Spirited jawing turned into jostling between players, and then fans joined in the altercation by pelting Sockers players with debris and drinks. Players retaliated. As the situation grew more chaotic, a security officer requested the presence of police who were at the Arena.
At the same time, officials were reviewing the play. Several minutes after the game the announcement came that Sockers defender Cesar Cerda had been issued a red card for violent conduct, making him ineligible for Game 2 on April 24 in Oceanside, California.
“It just got heated at the end [between] two high-level teams,” veteran Wave forward Ian Bennett said. “They’re very competitive, and who wants to win it? The rest, it was a hard game to ref, right? Because it’s a big game. It’s big final. Emotions are there.
“To be honest, our emotions got the best of us, because we’ve got to be smarter than that, right? We don’t need to play in their hands, but kudos to them, they won, and we just got to regroup and lick our wounds and come back on Friday ready to go.”
A loud and larger-than-usual crowd turned out for the final home game of 2025-26.
Two quick goals by Bennett early in the fourth quarter pulled the Wave within a goal at 4-3, but Milwaukee couldn’t maintain the spark, and Sockers midfielder Leonardo De Oliveira turned the momentum back around with 5 ½ minutes left. The Wave killed a two-minute San Diego power play resulting from too many men on the field, but by the time goalkeeper Jerry Perez gave the Wave another goal, just 33 seconds remained.
So now for the Wave to win an eighth arena soccer title, it must win back-to-back against the team that finished the regular season with the best record.
Milwaukee lost the opening game of its quarterfinal and semifinal series and won a regulation game followed by a quarter-length knockout game each time to advance. But those were at home; this time they’ll go on the road to play against the team that finished with the best record in the regular season. Game 3 would be a full-length game April 27.
“Very difficult,” first-year Wave head coach Marcio Leite said of the challenge that awaits.
“We’ve done it before. We beat them in their house. But we need to be smarter. And we need to play better. … We need to create better chances, then we need to make sure our shots are on target.”
(This story was updated to add new information.)
The number of yearly opioid overdose deaths in Milwaukee County continues to decline. Compared to 2022, there’s been a 54% decrease in fatal opioid overdoses, according to the county’s latest update to its Overdose Dashboard.
At a press conference April 21, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said that sharing this progress comes with mixed feelings.
“That data also tells us that 387 Milwaukee County residents lost their lives to drug overdoses last year,” said Crowley. “These are our neighbors. These are our loved ones, family members.”
In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared deaths from prescription painkillers an epidemic. That’s when local governments nationwide filed lawsuits against the parties involved in manufacturing, distributing and promoting opioids.
Dr. Ben Weston is the county’s chief health policy advisor. Weston explained the severity of how the nationwide opioid crisis was felt in Milwaukee County.
“We had one person dying every 16 hours from overdose,” said Weston. “Since then, there’s been a lot of work.”
Weston added that 17 people died from an overdose in a single weekend in 2023, which he described as “unimaginable levels of opioid use in our community.”
But 2023 was also the year that Milwaukee County learned it would receive $111 million over the next 18 years through opioid settlements. Weston said much of the county’s work has been preventative, like creating affordable housing, effective transportation and accessible mental health services.
Other efforts have addressed the crisis head-on, like installing free, no-questions-asked harm reduction vending machines, adding naloxone to emergency response vehicles and creating programs to prevent drug use among people who are incarcerated.
Weston said people exiting incarceration are susceptible to the highest risk period for overdose. As for the communities that face the highest risk of fatal overdoses, American Indian and Alaska Native residents are impacted the most.
Jeremy Triblett is the prevention integration manager at the Milwaukee Department of Health and Human Services. Triblett said the county’s FOCUS initiative, which stands for Featuring Our Community’s Untold Stories, is directly addressing Milwaukee’s Black, brown and Indigenous communities “to assess how they’re accessing their substances, and culturally, how does that intersect with their cultural norms.”
A community advisory board, comprised of people of color, is helping county officials facilitate discussions on harm reduction outreach.
Brice Turang drove in four runs and David Hamilton had four hits as the Milwaukee Brewers routed the Detroit Tigers 12-4 on Tuesday night.
Despite missing their top three hitters, the Brewers put 19 runners on base and scored in double digits for the second time this season. They have won five of six.
All nine Milwaukee starters reached base at least once, and Detroit catcher/knuckleballer Jake Rogers limited the damage by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
Detroit lost its second straight after winning eight of nine.
Milwaukee used speed and small ball to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Garrett Mitchell led off with an infield single, took second on a walk and scored on Sal Frelick’s base hit. Hamilton beat out a bunt to load the bases.
After Blake Perkins struck out, Turang lined a two-run single to right. Turang, though, got caught in a rundown between first and second and the Tigers threw Hamilton out at the plate when he tried to score.
Detroit loaded the bases with no one out in the fourth, but Grant Anderson relieved Harrison and got Javier Báez to ground into a double play. That made it 3-1, but Anderson struck out pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter to end the inning.
The Brewers made it 5-1 in the seventh on RBI singles by Turang and William Contreras.
Milwaukee added seven runs in an 11-batter eighth, an inning that included the fourth triple of Gary Sanchez’s 12-year MLB career.
Detroit scored three times in the ninth inning to cut the final margin to eight runs.
The teams continue the series on Wednesday night with the second of three games. Detroit RHP Casey Mize (1-1, 2.78) is scheduled to face RHP Chad Patrick (1-0, 0.95).
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