By WAYNE SHIELS
Wednesday, June 25, to Sunday, June 29, 2025, the city of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic—one of the traditional hubs of Czech ball hockey—hosted the U23 and U16 World Ball Hockey Championships.
Martensville forwards Cole Duperreault, Mason Engele and Warman goaltender Matthew Hennessey played key roles in Canada earning a silver medal in the U23 tournament.
Cole Duperreault finished game one with a four-goal performance helping Canada walk away with an 11-0 victory vs United Nations on Wednesday, June 25.
Game two was a 6-2 win over Slovakia. Matthew Hennessey was stellar in net, making 20 saves in his first start of the tournament. Duperreault netted the final goal.
Friday was a busy day for Team Canada. They started the day with a 12-2 win over Great Britain. Cole Duperreault had a hat trick and Mason Engele had a pair in the dominant victory. The second game of the day was a 6-3 loss to a well rested Czechia team. Mason Engele scored Canada’s second goal.
The win advanced the host country to the championship game while Canada needed a win against the USA on Saturday to advance to the final, which they delivered in spades.
Matthew Hennessey was solid in net, earning Player of the Game, making 28 saves in the 6-0 shutout win over USA. Mason Engele had an assist on Canada’s opening goal.
Once Canada hit their offensive stride, Cole Duperreault put on a one-man show, scoring three goals and adding an assist to help propel Canada into the championship game.
Canada’s general manager Gary Slavin praised Hennessey’s effort.
“We had a very slow start, where our goalie kept us in the game and gave us a chance to recover,” said Slavin. “Then things turned around and we played a great match.“
The gold medal game was a hard-fought match between two talented teams.
Czechia delighted the home crowd when Tomáš Lhota received a perfect pass on a two- on-one break and buried the one-timer shot to open the scoring.
Canada battled back when Mason Engele found himself one-on-one against goaltender Antonin Kremenák and made no mistake with a quick wrist shot to low glove side.
Czechia took the lead on the power play when Jan Cejka’s quick wrist shot from the right circle made it 2-1.
They maintained this lead as Kremenák shut down Canada, stopping Wylie Birkett’s breakaway with a pad save and later making a brilliant glove save on a one-timer from tournament scoring leader Cole Duperreault.
Head coach Paul Kastes summed up the game.
“I’m incredibly proud of my team. The final was extremely tough — the boys fought until the very last minute, but unfortunately it just didn’t go our way. We had plenty of chances, but couldn’t convert them. Still, we left everything out there, and I really appreciate that,” he said.
Duperreault was named the tournament’s top forward, while Hennessey was named top goaltender.
Czechia also took the U16 gold with a 7-4 win over USA in the final. Slovakia defeated Canada 5-4 in the bronze medal game.
Next up is the U20 tournament in Poprad, Slovakia July 2-6 where Martensville’s Rylan Pearce will be representing our province on Team Canada.