Gateway seniors honored amidst unbeaten hockey season

By: Michael Love
Sunday, January 28, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Previous Next

The Gateway junior varsity hockey team is coming to the end of the regular season, and the Gators’ faithful had the chance to celebrate a group of five seniors who have helped the team to an undefeated record as the playoffs approach.

Gateway skated against West Allegheny for the third time this season Friday at Palmer Imaging Arena in Delmont.

Recognized in a ceremony before the game were defenseman Noah Evans, goaltender Seth Hunkele, forward Hayden Hines, defenseman Blake Marsh and defenseman Austin Mancini.

“It is bittersweet,” Gateway coach Justin Evans said. “For me, I would get emotional every time I talked about it. This group has given so much to help the program improve and win games.”

And win games the Gators have. Through an 11-1 rout of Norwin on Jan. 19, Gateway boasted a 13-0-1 record. While they have pulled out a couple of close wins, most of the victories have been wide margins.

Gateway ranked among the leaders in all of PIHL JV hockey with 93 goals in its 14 games. Conversely, they surrendered just 25.

“I had a feeling that we were going to be good, but I didn’t think we were going to be this good with this record,” Evans said.

“The truth is that we can still get better. They are really coming into a groove right now. There’s not a lot of selfish hockey being played. They are moving the puck in the neutral zone which is such a big deal. In past years, some players had the tendency to get the puck at the blue line and carry it all the way down the rest of the ice and try to do it all themselves. They are now doing such a good job now of using each other.”

Gateway owns the top spot in Tier 3, Division 3 by 10 points over Deer Lakes, and that lead was strengthened by a 2-1 nail-biting victory over the Lancers on Dec. 22 at Alpha in Harmarville.

The Gators were outshot 24-17, but the defense held firm.

Hunkele made 23 saves, and Gateway got the game winner 1 minute, 49 seconds into the third period on a goal from junior Jakob Williams off an assist from fellow junior CJ Evans.

“We do a much better job of staying in position defensively,” Evans said.

“We don’t chase the puck as much in the defensive zone. There can be that tendency to follow the puck and leave guys wide open. We’ve done a good job in practices of what is needed to succeed. That makes the job of the coaches easier when the kids are so willing to learn.”

Junior Hayden Nadeau also scored against Deer Lakes.

“Hayden is not in our top six forwards but he’s such a good teammate,” coach Evans said.

“He scored an unbelievable wristshot goal on a 2-on-1 break.”

With a goal and three assists against Norwin, CJ Evans bumped up to 25 goals and 17 assists. His 42 points heading into the game with West Allegheny ranked him first in all of PIHL JV.

“CJ has been playing so well and leads the team, but the scoring has been spread out so well,” coach Evans said.

“There maybe is one or two who haven’t scored this season. That says a lot about where the program is headed.”

Hunkele made 16 saves against Norwin to improve to 9-0 on the season.

“Seth has been really impressive,” coach Evans said.

Junior Dakota Montedoro is 4-0-1 and is set to start the regular-season finale against Carrick.

“Dakota knows that Seth is the one who is riding the wave right now, but he has played really well, too,” coach Evans said.

Gateway and Carrick will match up Feb. 13. It is the third meeting this season.

Carrick handed the Gators the only blemish on their record. The teams tied 2-2 on Oct. 27.

Gateway beat Carrick 9-2 on Dec. 4.

“Carrick is a very gritty team,” coach Evans said.

“We took a ton of shots at the end (of the tie game). It was probably the most exciting last three minutes of a hockey game. We were all over them. This goalie for them, he was unbelievable. He kept everything out at the net.”

Coach Evans said he is not sure how the playoffs will pan out for his team.

“We moved up a division for the playoffs last year. I’m not sure if they will do that this year,” he said.

“We’re waiting to see and go with the flow. We’re not sure if they would move us from Tier 3 to Tier 1 or Division 3 to Division 1. We are confident going to into the playoffs, wherever we are positioned.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway