Ajeet Gundarah’s white goalie mask still draws a double take in the Sacred Heart locker room. The junior from Richmond, British Columbia, has heard the questions from teammates old and new, but he sees no reason to change a look that has carried him into the conversation among the top NCAA Division I netminders.
“We brought in about 17 new players, and I think every one of them has asked what is going on with the mask,” Gundarah said. He considered having one painted after arriving at school, then decided against it: the plain white version had worked well enough to that point.
A big target in net for Sacred Heart
Gundarah, 23, enters 2026-27 with a clear personal standard after a breakout sophomore campaign. “I expect to be the best goalie in the country,” he said. “I truly believe I can be.”
He supplied Sacred Heart with a 13-7-1 record across 22 appearances last season, posting a 2.09 goals-against average, a .928 save percentage and two shutouts. Two separate high-ankle sprains cost him time, but did not keep him from leading Atlantic Hockey America in both major rate categories.
- He finished seventh nationally in save percentage among Division I goalies with at least 15 games played.
- His goals-against average was tied for ninth in the country.
- Over his final nine regular-season outings, Gundarah went 7-2-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .943 save percentage.
- He recorded one shutout in that closing stretch and surrendered no more than two goals in each of those seven wins.
- He landed on the Mike Richter Award watch list for a second straight year, after also being recognized in 2024-25.
Sacred Heart coach C.J. Marottolo said the Pioneers take the ice knowing their goalie can keep them in any game. “With Ajeet in the crease, we feel very good,” Marottolo said.
Championship-game loss remains the fuel
The Pioneers went 23-14-3 overall and 15-8-3 in Atlantic Hockey America last season, reaching the conference final before Bentley edged them 3-2 on March 21. The loss has stayed with Gundarah.
“He is still really upset about that outcome,” Marottolo said. “He has taken it into this season, and it has become a source of motivation.”
Sacred Heart was picked first in the AHA preseason coaches’ poll in September, while Gundarah was selected as the conference preseason player of the year. His goals stretch beyond individual numbers: he wants the Pioneers to finish the job and hopes a winning season puts him on NHL clubs’ radar when college free agents begin signing.
“I want to keep improving,” Gundarah said. “Individual stats never leave me satisfied. Winning here can help get me where I want to go, and I expect to sign somewhere after this season.”
The season opened with a split: Sacred Heart fell 3-2 to Bowling Green on Friday, then answered with a 6-3 win over No. 17 Penn State on Saturday. Gundarah started both games and was listed with a .889 goals-against average across the weekend.
From Vancouver-area rinks to a college crease
Gundarah did not arrive at goaltending through a grand plan. As a young player, his group rotated through the position, and when his turn came, he found he preferred staying on the ice and trying to make stops rather than skating out.
“I was not the best skater when I played player,” he said. “In goal, you can make big saves. I thought that was the coolest thing in the world.”
Growing up near Vancouver, he watched Roberto Luongo, the Hall of Fame goaltender who played for the Canucks from 2008 through 2014. As Gundarah developed, he also studied smaller NHL goalies such as Nashville’s Juuse Saros and Calgary’s Dustin Wolf.
At 6-foot and 185 pounds, Gundarah understands the questions attached to a goalie who does not fill the crease like a 6-foot-4 prospect. He believes anticipation is his edge.
“There are certainly advantages to being bigger,” he said. “My biggest strength is reading plays. I take a lot of pride in being a step ahead.”
Junior résumé and the Tim Thomas comparison
Before Sacred Heart, Gundarah played in the British Columbia Hockey League with Langley from 2021-23. A June 12, 2023 trade sent him to Surrey, where he helped deliver the 2024 Fred Page Cup.
- During Surrey’s postseason run, Gundarah went 10-5-1 with a 1.97 goals-against average, a .939 save percentage and two shutouts.
- In 33 regular-season games that year, he went 25-6-1 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.
- He received the BCHL’s Michael Garteig Award as the league’s top goaltender.
Marottolo first heard about Gundarah through Sacred Heart assistant coaches scouting the BCHL. Their report was not based on prototype size or textbook aesthetics. Instead, they came back with a notable comparison: Tim Thomas.
Thomas, listed at 5-foot-11, played 426 NHL games and made 408 starts with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars between 2002 and 2014. He won the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy with Boston in 2011, captured the Vezina Trophy in 2009 and 2011, earned Olympic silver with the United States in 2010 and entered the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.
After coaching Gundarah for two years, Marottolo said he understands why his assistants made the connection. Thomas competed fiercely in his crease and refused to concede plays; Marottolo sees that same puck-by-puck fight in his current starter, and believes it spreads through the roster.
NHL teams did not draft Gundarah during his teenage years, another point he has put in the motivation file rather than the regret file.
“When things get difficult or do not go your way, they can hurt you or help you grow,” Gundarah said. “For me, it is another reason to show people they were wrong.”
