Squirts: The Gateway Squirts came out a little sluggish, but soon picked up the pace and took their first win of the season 8-0 against Braintree White. Thomas Leger, Matthew Quinlan, Juni Suarez, Trendyn Mederios, and Nate Ribeiro scored for the team with assists from Matthew Paling and Suarez. The whole team put in 100% effort and skated together, keeping the puck down the offensive end most of the game, and thus helping Ryker King earn his first shut-out for the season.
Pee Wees: The Gateway Pee Wee hockey season opener resulted in a 6-1 loss against Duxbury. Duxbury took an early three-goal lead in the first period until Jack Martins got Gateway on the board with their only goal of the game in the second period. Duxbury would go on to score three additional goals in the third. Gateway goalie, Ryker King, played a great game with some incredible stops, but the opposing team’s pressure was consistent throughout the entire game and proved too much for Gateway. This was the first game of the season for Gateway with no place to go but up, and this team will do just that. The loss was tough, but so were the players. Gateway skated hard to the last seconds of the game and showed a lot of promise for the 2014-2015 season. There will be some work to do in order to come together as a team, but the foundation is there and some good solid team building is all that will be needed to be successful.
Bantams: The Gateway Youth Hockey Bantam team opened the season with a decisive 8-0 victory over Plymouth. Steven Strachan and Zachary Pateakos shared the shutout in net. Jackson St. Don, Jake Demoranville, and Jameson Woodward each had two goals. Zack Lovendale added a goal and an assist. Jared Westgate also chipped in with a goal. Playmakers Josh Smolinsky and Robert Ramsay each had three assists.
Middle School 1: The Middle School 1 Jr. Vikings opened up their 2014-15 season with a victory over Walpole 6-2 Friday night. The scoring started early with a goal off the first face-off of the game. Quirino doCanto won the face off and headed up the ice with line mates Tyler Lovendale and James L’Heureux. doCanto then passed over to L’Heureux to score 10 seconds into the game. The Vikings played great defense, led by Coleby Paling and Seth Tomasik, to hold Walpole scoreless for the first period. Peter Pimental started the second period scoring on assists from Vyper LaTulippe and Zack Lovendale. Pimental returned the favor and fed Lovendale for his first of two goals on the night. Walpole got on the board in the second when a wide open player snuck one by goaltender Alex DeMarco. doCanto then got his name in the goal-scorer column by tapping in a rebound off a shot from Tyler Lovendale. Walpole then added another goal making it 4-2. The final two goals were scored by the Lovendale brothers, making the final score 6-2. It was a good first game to the season, with well-played defense and great goaltending. DeMarco made a number of saves in his first game for the Middle School 1 team.
Middle School Game 2: The MS 1 Jr. Vikings played their second game on Sunday, squeaking out a 2-2 tie against the North Devils. The game was a defensive battle from the beginning. North got on the board early in the first period beating Alex DeMarco. DeMarco then put up a brick wall, stopping almost every other shot after that. The Vikings defense, Paling, Tomasik, Kaleb Riggle, Wylde Latulippe, played strong as well, keeping the Devils away from DeMarco. The Jr. Vikings put up a number of shots on the North goalie, but he was definitely up to task, pushing away everything in the first two periods. The third period started off as another tough defensive period, until the Jr. Vikings finally broke through. The line of Tyler Lovendale, doCanto, and L’Heureux got the offense going early in the third period. On an offensive zone face off, an errant pass found the stick of Lovendale, who quickly made a no-look backhand pass to a cutting doCanto. doCanto made the goalie miss and drew the puck back in, before stuffing in a backhand as he was going down to the ice. On the ensuing possession, all three came down the ice and combined for the second goal with a pass from doCanto to L’Heureux to Lovendale who put it in the net. Unfortunately, the lead was short lived as North quickly tied it up. The game then became defensive again, with neither team being able to score again. It was a great game to watch and well played by both teams.