The Gateway hockey team’s success in the 2025-26 season, one which included a postseason tournament championship, has it poised to return to varsity status after a one-year hiatus.
A young roster with just two seniors necessitated a move down to the JV level. Coach Dennis Shannon said he was impressed with the way the team responded and improved throughout the regular season. It punctuated the improvement with three gritty victories to bring home championship gold in its JV tier tournament March 24.
“At a board meeting, I made a presentation as to why I felt we were ready to go back to varsity next year,” Shannon said.
“The board agreed, so it will petition the league. With what we did this year, it is a good sign. The kids are excited about that. We have a couple kids from the middle school team moving up who practiced with us a lot at the end of the year. I expect them to fit in quite nicely for us.”
Gateway had a mix of talent from several different schools, a majority from Gateway itself and others from Derry, Jeannette, Ligonier Valley and East Allegheny.
The two seniors, Reed Davis and Caleb Sonafelt, will graduate from Gateway in two months. Shannon said he was pleased they were able to end their Gateway careers with a win and help bring a championship to the program.
Gateway finished the regular season 7-4-5 and bumped up a tier for the postseason tournament. The Gators beat Norwin, 3-2, in overtime in the quarterfinals March 11, rolled past Moon, 6-2, in the semifinals March 17 and edged Chartiers Valley, 2-1, in overtime in the championship game.
“I was so happy for them,” Shannon said. “Caleb mentioned that he was in tears after the title game. He played for Gateway for 13 years starting with the development team. He had never won a championship. He might not be one to play beyond high school, so this was an incredible moment for him.
“With Reed scoring the first goal (against Chartiers Valley), it really set them on the path to the title. It was so good for him to have that in his final Gateway game. Both Reed and Caleb have been so good this year with us going down to JV. They were such a big part of the team’s success, on and off the ice.”
Seven players scored at least one goal in the playoffs. Junior forward Canyon Hines (Gateway) tallied three goals, with two, including the OT game-winner, coming in the quarterfinal victory over Norwin.
Davis and junior Chance Wilson (Gateway) each scored two tournament goals.
Sophomore defenseman Brayden Devola (Jeannette) tallied just one tournament goal, but it was the biggest one. He scored 3:56 into the extra session of the title game against Chartiers Valley. When the goal touched the back of the net, the celebration began.
“Brayden lost the faceoff but won the battle,” Shannon said. “He was able to beat a defenseman one-on-one to the net. He made a great move to score. It was dramatic and exciting.
“Chartiers Valley had a very strong JV and varsity team throughout the season, and we knew that game was going to be a challenge. Across their roster, they had 167 varsity games of experience. It was a great test for us against some good, physical, solid players. That game could’ve gone either way.”
Freshman goaltender Peyton Goldstein (East Allegheny) stopped 27 of 28 shots to help secure the win.
“Peyton was unbelievable in the playoffs,” Shannon said. “We couldn’t get him out of the net.”
Shannon said sophomore Tristan Cole (Derry) also was dependable between the pipes throughout the season.
Gateway’s move up a division for the tournament, Shannon said, was good as a lead-in to their move back to varsity next year.
“I felt they were good enough and playing well enough to compete at that level,” Shannon said. “It was a really good, competitive tournament. It was such an exciting run and a great end to the season.
“We really came together the last few weeks. They bought into systems and everything we talked about all year long. Sometimes teams get to that sooner in the season, but some get to it later. Just because of an overall lack of maturity in terms of experience, we got to it later in the season than most teams. When they did, it was pretty much all in, and it showed in the game play.”