It’s a lot easier to drive the kids to hockey when there’s not a foot of snow on the ground. Here’s how the Gateway Youth Hockey teams performed recently:

Squirt Grizzlies. On Saturday, the Grizzlies avenged their only loss of the season in the Yankee Conference with a 4-2 victory over Braintree 3 at Gallo Arena in Bourne.  With the win, the Grizzlies took sole possession of first place.

Chris Gauvin provided the offense with two goals.  Matt Quinlan and Nathan Ribeiro had the other goals.  Austin Fleming had an assist.  Ryker King earned the win in goal.  The Grizzlies face the Whitman Hanson Kingston Hawks next Sunday March 2 at 11:40 a.m. in Pembroke.

Pee Wee Predators. The Predators were coming off a tough loss to Nantucket in the Cape League Championship last weekend.  They played a Falmouth team that beat them earlier in the season.  The Predators came out slow in the first period, but eventually got it going to win, 4-0.

The scoring on the day was done by the doCanto, Lovendale line, each of them putting in a goal.  Defenseman,  Bryan Gallagher added the fourth goal. Teaghin Andre helped out the Predators in net.

Pee Wee Warriors. The Warriors secured a position in the Yankee Conference’s top-tier playoff grouping with their 3-2 victory over the Yarmouth Dennis Dolphins on Sunday.

Warrior coaches were impressed with the effort and intensity of each of their defensive players: Jackson St. Don, Beth Davis, Noah DeMoranville, and Jameson Woodward. Forward, RJ Vickery also contributed a solid, three-zone effort. Robert Ramsay scored the only goal of the first period, assisted by Zachary Barris. Midway through the second, Ramsay added a hard-working assist on a goal by Danny Flynn. But despite his stellar performance in net, goalie Steven Strachan found his Warriors tied with the Dolphins less than a minute from the final buzzer.

Woodward showed his speed, taking the puck wide to create a two on one scoring chance. With only 50 seconds left, Woodward rocketed the game-winner past the Dolphins’ goalie from atop the right faceoff circle, sending the crowd and his teammates into a frenzied celebration.

Middle School. After a long stretch of bye weeks, scrimmages, and in league games, the Vikings 1 team was raring to go against Martha's Vineyard Friday night. The Vikings started off strong with good defensive play and passing.

The defensive lines of Bryan Gallagher and Caleb Riggle and Jackson St Don and Coleby Paling were key on defense as goalie Teaghin Andre protected the net. Quirino DoCanto earned the first goal for the Vikings, scoring on a breakaway. Matt Maloney scored in the second period, assisted by Zack Lovendale. The Vineyard team began to skate more aggressively, and attempted several unsuccessful breakaways. Goalie Andre had a stellar game, and left at the half with a 2-0 shutout and 16 saves. The midway point is also when the game broke down for the Vikings. The passing issues that have plagued the team came to the forefront, and the defense struggled against the continued breakaways from Martha’s Vineyard. The Vineyard scored three quick goals at the end of the second period, gaining a 3-2 lead. A fourth goal was scored by the Vineyard in the third. Zack Lovedale found the net for the Vikings assisted by Bryan Gallagher. Relief goalie Steven Strachan kept his head, making 15 saves for the Vikings. He was pulled in the last two minutes of the game for a push on net.

Despite the Vikings best efforts, the game ended in a 4-3 loss.