I got the following Error in android Studio 2.2.3 when I sync gradle.
Error:Cause: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
I just encountered the similar problem and found a series of steps did help me. Of course few of them is to Change the network to a stronger,better one.or if you have only one network then try Reconnecting to the network and then simply INVALIDATE/RESTART your android studio. If it still shows the error you need to add the "maven" in repositories and point it out to the link as shown below: maven { url "http://jcenter.bintray.com"}
Finally,Go to *File *Settings *Build,Execution and deployment *Gradle *Android Studio --------And check Enable maven repository option.
After that simply clean and rebuild your APP and you will be good to go.