The Mercyhurst Lakers women's ice hockey team is a college ice hockey program representing Mercyhurst University in NCAA Division I competition as a member of the College Hockey America (CHA) conference. They play in Erie, Pennsylvania at the Mercyhurst Ice Center, located on the Mercyhurst campus.
The program was started in 1999 and Michael Sisti has been its only coach. From 2000 to 2002, the Lakers were part of the Great Lakes Women's Hockey Association (GLWHA). While in the Great Lakes Women's Hockey Association, the Lakers qualified for the GLWHA tournament twice – in 2001, and 2002. The Lakers were regular season champions in 2000–01 and 2001–02, and won the playoff championship in 2002. For the 2002–03 season, the Lakers joined the College Hockey America conference.
History
1999 to 2002: Great Lakes Women's Hockey Association
The Mercyhurst women's hockey program predates NCAA governance in the sport. The Great Lakes Women's Hockey Association was formed by Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, when the Title IX law protecting equity in sports was making major changes to women's athletics.
A Mercyhurst Men's Assistant Coach since 1993, Michael Sisti, was named the inaugural head coach. As of the end of the 2019–20 season, he remains the only head coach in the program's history. Sisti had been a star forward for Canisius College, where he graduated in 1990.
Mercyhurst was immediately successful in the GLWHA. They were 23-6-0 in 1999–00. Most of their games were shutout wins, and scored 10 or more goals on six occasions.
In 2000-01 they were far less successful, going 14-16-3, playing more established programs.
In 2001–02, they saw great success again, with a 24-8-1 record, and the final GLWHA Championship.
College Hockey America through 2005-06
As the NCAA became the primary governing body of women's hockey, the conferences began to merge with existing men's conferences. The Mercyhurst men were part of the Metro Atlantic Conference, while Findlay and Wayne States' men's programs were in College Hockey America, which began organizing as a women's conference as well. The new CHA women's conference included Mercyhust, Findlay and Wayne State from the GLWHA, and Niagara University.
In the first four years of the conference, Mercyhurst dominated the competition. Within the conference, they were 38-1-3, winning every regular season, and every tournament. Their overall record was 102-29-13 for the same period. In the first two years of the conference, the CHA a smaller conference against much more storied conferences, like the ECAC and the WCHA. As a result, Mercyhurst did not receive a bid to appear in the NCAA Tournament. In 2005, the Lakers received their first bid, traveling to powerful Harvard University on March 19. The ensuing game was one of the most bitterly fought in tournament history, with Harvard prevailing 5–4 in the third overtime period. During that game, Mercyhurst goaltender Desirae "Desi" Clark set a single game save record of 78 stops. That record still stands at the Division I level , the end of the 2019–20 season. In the following year, the Lakers had similar bad luck, this time losing to Wisconsin in 2 overtimes.
The CHA Conference saw some changes, as Findlay dropped their program in 2004, and the Robert Morris Colonials joining for 2005–06, after Quinnipiac joined for a single year (2004–05).
The Meghan Agosta years
By the mid-2000s Mercyhurst College (it would become Mercyhurst University in 2012), had several advantages in recruiting: The college itself, a small Catholic institution with very good academics; The success and graduation rate of its athletes; and, the overwhelming success of the team. The campus location near Lake Ontario was attractive to young women from Ontario, New York and Pennsylvania, a large pool of talent.
In 2006, the Lakers attracted Megan Agosta, perhaps the most sought-after talent in the NCAA. Even before attending college, she had won an Olympic gold medal at the 2006 Turin games with Team Canada. She became one of the best players of the decade in NCAA play.
Agosta would be the first ever freshman to be a top three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award.
In 2007, Mercyhurst successfully recruited Vicki Bendus, who would win the 2010 Patty Kazmaier Award as the nation's top player, and was a top-10 finalist in the following year.