Heart of champions: Waltham U12 girls win it all

Two years ago, the Waltham U12 girls hockey team made a run at the state tourney and reached the championship game only to lose in the seventh round of a sudden death shootout.

Last weekend, they left no doubt that they have the right stuff. The Waltham U12 girls outscored opponents 27-5 in five games to win the 2025-2026 Massachusetts State Championship in Falmouth.

The team dominated the weekend against Charlestown, Melrose, Danvers and Hanover, and then capped it off with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Westwood in the championship game.

Waltham Goalie Bryn Cedorchuk made several big-time saves during the final game including a breakaway with less than four minutes left. Lucia Bella scored two goals to lead the way to a 2-1 victory — and redemption.

“Every one of our girls worked together, contributing in different aspects to secure all the wins over the weekend. The girls played hard and never stopped. The best part of this team is that all these girls are just having fun playing the game and smiling,” said coach Jim Stone.

Waltham’s U12 champions are Lucia Bella, Bryn Cedorchuk, Jillian Gardner, Keira Stone, Lexi Rock, Bryn Fergurson, Juliana Wszolek, Emerson Tomczyk, Ashleigh Philpott, Alex Arone and Maggie Buckley.

This marks the first-ever girls state championship in Waltham Youth Hockey history, an impressive and well-deserved milestone for the program.