Just the thought of the past three seasons makes Greg Pittman cringe.

That's because his Gateway boys' soccer team narrowly missed qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs by just a half-game each year.

"It's unbelievable," said Pittman, who is in his 11th season with the program and eighth as the Gators head coach. "We've taken fourth in the section for the past three years."

Gateway, which has not secured a WPIAL playoff berth since 2005, sits in third place at 6-4 in Section 3-AAA with a 10-5 overall mark behind No. 2-ranked Fox Chapel (15-0-1, 9-0-1) and No. 6 Central Catholic (11-1-2, 8-0-2).

"I'm very anxious to get back to the playoffs," Pittman said. "I think we could make it and we should make it. We control our own destiny, which is a good thing."

The Gators, who went 11-6-1 last year including a 6-5-1 run in section play, opened the season with three consecutive wins to clinch the Hempfield Kickoff Tournament. Gateway then opened the first half of section play at 3-2 with victories against Plum, Woodland Hills and Penn Hills.

"We've played pretty consistently most of the season," Pittman said. "Some things we've continued to do well and there also have been some things that we still need to improve upon."

Gateway went on a four-game winning streak midway through its schedule but has won just two of its past five games. It was the Gators' 2-0 win over Plum on Oct. 1, along with Franklin Regional's 4-0 loss to Central on Oct. 8, that helped Gateway remain in playoff contention.

"Our only real bad losses were against Central Catholic and Fox Chapel, so that's four games right there," Pittman said. "Both teams have really good forwards who challenged our defense and got off good goals.

"With their match-ups, they both have the best attack in the section. That was expected. Everyone had an idea those two would be the best with us, Franklin Regional and Plum fighting in the middle of the pack."

Pittman, however, has still seen a big improvement since last season. The Gators lost eight of 11 starters from last year's team, including all-state forward Jeff Simmons, all-section midfielder Joe Rajakumar, all-section goalkeeper Scott Scheinberg and key defender Andrew Streiner. Simmons is now playing at Central Florida, while Rajakumar is at West Virginia Wesleyan and Streiner playing at Westminster.

"The previous three seasons we had two or three guys we relied on to score goals; we depended on those guys," Pittman said. "This year, we have six or seven guys who can put the ball in the net any given day.

"Now, I have no idea who's going to step up; it could be anybody. That's great and it has been very helpful."

Senior forward Taylor Scott was pacing the Gators' scoring with seven goals and five assists going into this week.

"We returned only a few starters from last year," Pittman said. "Taylor was someone who really has come on as a goal scorer. He's been one of the most consistent and the others have done a nice job around him. It's more of a team effort than anything."

Junior midfielder Eric Fitchwell follows Scott with five goals and five assists. Forward Ryan Gongloff, midfielder Stephen Fogle, midfielder Nick Reynolds and midfielder Mark Jacob, all juniors, have scored four goals each. Fogle has seven assists, while Gongloff has added five assists.

Fitchwell as well as senior goalkeeper Dominic Zappa are playing dual roles this year as members of the Gateway football team. Fitchwell kicks extra points and field goals, while Zappa punts and kicks off for the Gators.

"Soccer is their first priority and [Gateway football coach] Terry Smith has been very flexible and cooperative," Pittman said. "They haven't missed a practice or a game. When it comes to working on soccer or kicking [for the football team], they also make time and have worked a lot on their own time."

Pittman has been pleased with Zappa's effort in net.

"He's doing very well," Pittman said. "I was a little uncertain who was going to start in net for us during summer camp; I didn't know which direction we would go, but Dom really stepped up and has played great for us."

The Gators close out their regular-season schedule entertaining Penn Hills tonight and then traveling to Franklin Regional Tuesday. A victory tonight against Penn Hills will clinch third place and the accompanying WPIAL playoff berth for the Gators.

"We need to win these games," Pittman said. "We have to finish with the ball. We've had opportunities to score but we haven't always finished with our chances. We need more chances and work hard like we've done all year."

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