Small Mercyhurst is big force in women's hockey

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The short list of schools that have earned the No. 1 ranking in the USA TODAY/USA Hockey Magazine women's coaches' poll gained an unlikely new member this season: Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa.

In November the Lakers (16-1-1) became the 10th team to reach the top since the poll's inception in the 1998-99 season. A school with an enrollment of 3,400 and an eight-year hockey history has joined major powers at Minnesota, Harvard, Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth as the best in the land. The Lakers were a unanimous No. 1 choice Tuesday for the second week running.

"Our administration was committed to building a quality program, but I think our success may have pushed things further and faster than it expected," coach Mike Sisti says. "The school has received great national recognition from the program."

Mercyhurst offers 13 men's and 11 women's sports and competes at the Division II level in everything except hockey, which has no Division II. Sisti shifted from associate coach of the Mercyhurst men's team to become women's head coach in 1999 and began with four scholarships. Recruiting heavily in Canada -- the Ontario border is three hours from campus -- Mercyhurst has had at least 23 victories every season except 2000-01.

"We've turned over every rock possible in pursuit of quality people, and some great kids took a chance on us when no one knew who we were," Sisti says.

Mercyhurst now offers 17 scholarships (the NCAA maximum is 18) and is gunning for its third consecutive bid to the NCAA playoffs. The Lakers lost in triple overtime to Harvard in 2005 and in overtime to eventual national champion Wisconsin last year.

Meghan Agosta, a member of Canada's Olympic gold medal team, is Mercyhurst's top gun with 15 goals and 18 assists. Six other players are scoring in double figures. Goalie Laura Hosier has allowed 1.3 goals a game.

Fourteen of the Lakers' 23 varsity players are from Canada, six from the USA and three from Europe. Attracting more homegrown talent is a priority.

"We have a wonderful mix of players, and more American kids are looking at us," Sisti says. "That's the next step for us, to attract those two or three marquee Americans."

Mercyhurst, idle until Jan. 5, competes in the four-school College Hockey America, the only women's conference whose champion does not get an automatic NCAA berth. The Lakers have to earn an at-large berth while playing 22 non-conference games.

"We've always played anyone, anywhere, but some teams that promised us return trips haven't delivered," Sisti says. "But our schedule has helped make us mentally tough in the playoffs."

Mercyhurst is 4-1 this season against teams in the top 10. Reaching No.1 in the polls is nice but guarantees nothing.

"We had to prove ourselves as a contender, and making the NCAAs two years in a row helped do that," Sisti says. "But we have to keep proving ourselves, and recognition in the polls helps our legitimacy.

"We're realistic; there's a lot of season left. But we think we're just scratching the surface."

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