Playoff milestone within reach for Gateway boys soccer

By: Michael Love
Sunday, September 3, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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The Gateway boys soccer team, and specifically the senior class, can make history this year.

No other Gators class has made the WPIAL playoffs all four of its seasons.

Gateway qualified for the playoffs from 1986-88, but the 1989 seniors were denied a fourth consecutive trip.

The Gators players are optimistic they have the pieces in place to make another run to the postseason and get over the hump and past the first round.

“We have that winning attitude, and we want this to be the year we set the record,” senior defender Will Hansmann said.

“We have a nice mix of experienced players with younger guys ready to step up. We know this year can be our year.”

Gateway is led by a five-man captain group of Hansmann; seniors Blake Marsh (forward), Jack Kweder (goalkeeper) and Keagan Kyper (forward); and junior Nick Lo Coco (midfielder).

Gateway compiled a 28-24-1 record the past three seasons. Last year, the Gators went 10-8-1, including an 8-5-1 mark in Section 4-3A to finish tied for third with Penn-Trafford behind co-champions Franklin Regional and Plum (both 13-1).

Gateway picked up the No. 12 seed for the playoffs and gave No. 5 Kiski Area all it could handle on its home field in the first round before falling, 2-0.

The Gators also fell to Kiski Area in the 2021 first round and dropped a decision to West Allegheny in the first game of the 2020 playoffs.

Gateway said goodbye to several key players lost to graduation after the 2022 season. That group included All-WPIAL midfielder Brendan Strawser, who led the Gators with 25 goals and 16 assists and became the Gateway boys’ all-time leading scorer with 49 goals.

Also gone is all-section midfielder Daniel Garner, as well as Colton Corrie, who scored 18 goals last season.

The Gators also said farewell to coach Bernie Stiles, who stepped down from the position after six seasons.

The transition was smooth, Marsh said, as Mike Rugh, a 1996 Gateway grad, 2013 Gateway Sports Hall of Fame inductee, and an assistant coach with the Gators and Stiles the past five seasons, was hired as head coach in May.

“We adapted well,” Marsh said. “It’s a new head coach, but we are all familiar with his coaching style. He came in with a different system, but not a completely different system. He saw the flaws and worked to correct some things that we needed to change. I think we should be a better team than we were last year.”

Rugh said he’s excited to continue to be involved.

“I was coming back this year, so it just made sense. It was that natural progression,” he told the Trib in June, shortly after taking over the top coaching spot.

Gateway’s playoff-win drought dates back to 1995 when Rugh, as a senior, led the Gators to the WPIAL quarterfinals. It’s the only time in program history a Gateway boys soccer team made it that far in the WPIAL playoffs.

Nick Lo Coco led the returnees in goals last season with 12. He added 10 assists.

Marsh recorded 10 goals and 10 assists, while junior defender James Lo Coco produced six goals and four assists.

“I like the variety of playmakers on this team,” Nick Lo Coco said.

“We play together and communicate really well. We give defenses a lot to think about.”

Hansmann anchors the defense in front of Kweder.

“The defense has really come together,” Hansmann said.

“It does take time, especially with a young group including a freshman (Max Fry) starting. (Junior) Peter (Reynolds) is coming back from an injury. (Sophomore) Grant (Karstetter) is there who is still fighting injury. (Junior) Vince (Vagni) didn’t play last year, but he’s stepped into that center back role nicely. It’s a lot of practice and communication to build chemistry for the season.”

The Gators kicked off the season Aug. 26 against Hampton in nonsection play. The Talbots prevailed in the closely contested matchup, 2-1.

Junior midfielder Owen Echegaray scored for Gateway and was assisted by Marsh.

Marsh recorded a hat trick last Tuesday as the Gators bounced back with a 5-2 win over Penn Hills in its section opener.

Echegaray and Lo Coco (penalty kick) added goals. Lo Coco assisted on two of Marsh’s goals, and Kyper and sophomore midfielder Troy Boden added assists.

Kweder, in his third year as a starting varsity keeper, picked up the win in net against the Indians.

“We showed our improvement in the game with Penn Hills,” Marsh said.

“Last year, we lost the first game with them (3-0). This time, we beat them, and I think it could’ve been greater than 5-2. We missed some chances against Hampton and gave up two goals that we shouldn’t have. We definitely see that the hard work in the offseason and preseason practices is paying off.”

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