Michael Sisti (HC)

Mike Sisti starts his 24th year, during the 2022-23 season, as head coach of the women's hockey program, the only head coach the program has ever known.

On December 11th, 2020 Sisti became the second Division I Women's Hockey Head Coach to reach 500 career wins and just the third women's hockey coach to reach this mark. The Lakers defeated the RIT Tigers 5-1 with Liliane Perreault scoring twice while Sarah Nelles, Megan Korzack, and Emily Pinto scored once.

Sisti has turned a small-college women’s hockey program into one of Division I's premier powers. The Lakers have won 508 games, have captured 17 regular season conference titles and 15 conference championship titles, and made 10 consecutive trips to the national tournament - an NCAA record - before the streak was halted in the 2014 season. Sisti has 336 wins compared to just 42 losses in conference play during his tenure as Lakers' head coach. Among other notables, Sisti recruited and coached Meghan Agosta, who became a four-time All-American while at Mercyhurst, the leading scorer in Division I women's hockey history, a three-time Olympic gold medalist for Team Canada, and hockey MVP of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Forward Vicki Bendus garnered the team's first Patty Kazmaier Award in 2010 while Agosta was a four-time finalist for the sport's highest honor.

After three years as an assistant men’s coach at Canisius College in Buffalo, Sisti came to Mercyhurst in 1993 and spent his first six years as men’s varsity assistant coach and then associate head coach. He was named head coach of the new women's program in March of 1999.

His efforts with the women's program have earned him numerous honors. Sisti was named Division I Coach of the Year in 2005 and USCHO.com Coach of the Year in 2007. He has been recognized as a finalist for Division I Coach of the Year on six occasions. Conference coaches have also named him coach of the year six times - five times in the CHA.

Off the ice, Sisti has developed his players into outstanding student-athletes. For 16 consecutive years, the team’s cumulative grade point average has been above a 3.0. The Lakers have also been very active in the community. The team annually donates over 200 hours on various community service projects, and spends time at several local schools instructing students on life skills.

Prior to coaching, Sisti played four years of collegiate hockey at Canisius College. A four-year letterwinner, Sisti ranks among Canisius's best in several categories, including career points (163) and goals (74). He also shares the school record for most goals in a game with four and holds the single-season record for hat tricks with six. Sisti helped the Griffs to a 21-11-0 record with 13 goals and 19 assists as a freshman. He was named the team’s top forward for his 33-goal, 57-point effort in 1988-89, and served as team captain for his senior season in 1989-90. A 1990 graduate of Canisius, Sisti was inducted into the Canisius Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Sisti and wife, Nicole, reside in Erie.
Merrimack
Erin Hamlen enters her eighth season at Merrimack in 2022-23 as the head coach of the women's ice hockey team, holding a 57-145-22 all-time record at helm as the program's only head coach.

Merrimack women’s ice hockey had a litany of new benchmarks for the program, including the team’s first-ever playoff win at the University of New Hampshire in the Hockey East Tournament Opening Round, taking a commanding 4-1 win at the Wildcats on Feb. 23.

The team won eight games on the year along with six league contests, facing off against opponents including then-No. 1 University of Wisconsin. The Warriors also earned the program’s first shootout win at Boston University (Oct. 15) and back-to-back shutout wins, including ending the unbeaten streak of the UConn Huskies (Oct. 29) before defeating Maine (Oct. 30).

Goaltender Emma Gorski had a career season, notching all eight wins and her first three career shutouts. The junior notched a record 51 save shutout against UConn, earning her first of two Hockey East Goaltender of the Week honors.

Junior defender Teghan Inglis made a splash in her first year with the team, recognized as a two-time Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week (10/18 and 2/21) and third in Hockey East in blocked shots with 69. Offensively, she finished tied for the Hockey East lead for goals by a defenseman in the league (13) and finished tied for ninth overall in league scoring.

Warriors continued to make waves at the professional level, with graduate student captain Courtney Maud signing with the Buffalo Beauts of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), joining Mikyla Grant-Mentis ’20 and Dominique Kremer ’19 in the Queen City.

Hamlen was also recognized on the cover of USA Hockey Magazine in June 2022, where she was featured on the cover as a pioneer for female goaltenders within the United States for both her playing career and impacts as a coach.


2020-21 was a watershed year for the Warriors off the ice, as 21 student-athletes were recognized on the Hockey East All-Academic team for a 3.0 GPA during the academic year, with Bree Bergeron, Katie Kaufman and Allison Reeb recognized as Academic All-Stars for 4.0 GPAs during the year. Fourteen Warriors were honored as ACHA All-American Scholars for holding 3.6 GPAs throughout both semesters.

Alumni made waves in the professional scope as well, as Mikyla Grant-Mentis '20 was named the National Women's Hockey League's Most Valuable Player, scoring six goals and 11 points in 7 games for Toronto. Grant-Mentis was also recognized as the Newcomer of the Year, earning Toronto's Foundation Award honor for "actively applying the core values of hockey to their community as well as growing and improving hockey culture" as well as one of the fan's Three Stars recognition.

In 2019-20, the Warriors registered a 5-24-5 record, with wins against Rensselaer, Maine, Brown and UConn. The Warriors also earned ties against ranked Boston University teams twice, drawing against a then-No. 10 Terriers on Oct. 11 before doing so against a No. 7 ranked team on Jan. 24. The team also earned conference draws against Vermont on Oct. 25, Maine on Jan. 17, and New Hampshire on Feb. 8. The team had two big road trips on the year, traveling to compete against the University of Minnesota-Mankato in November before taking on Quinnipiac in the Friendship Series in Belfast, Northern Ireland in January.
In 2018-19, Hamlen’s squad posted a program-best 16-13-7 record, with a 12-10-5 Hockey East mark. Defeated No. 9 Boston College Dec. 8, tied No. 6 Princeton Dec. 30, tied No. 10 Boston University Jan. 26 and tied No. 3 Northeastern on Feb. 23. With 12 wins in conference play, the Warriors qualified for the Quarterfinals of the Hockey East playoffs.

Hamlen led the Warriors to an 11-20-3 overall record and 6-16-2 Hockey East record during the 2017-18 season. The team had three wins against nationally-ranked programs, taking down No. 3 Minnesota on Sept. 29 in Minneapolis before taking down two ranked conference foes in No. 9 Maine on Jan. 20 and No. 9 Providence on Feb. 9. The team posted their first-ever shutout with a scoreless tie against No.4 Saint Lawrence on Oct. 14, before a 1-0 shutout against Princeton on Nov. 24.

In her second season, Hamlen led the Warriors to a postseason berth in their second year, appearing in the Women's Hockey East Quarterfinals during the 2016-17 season. She guided the team to an 11-22-3 record and 7-17-0 Hockey East record. Merrimack also won its first game over Boston University, as well as winning the season series against Vermont.
Hamlen led Merrimack into an exciting first year of Division I competiition in 2015-16, helping the Warriors establish a name for themselves in not only the Hockey East but nationwide. She guided the program to a five-win season, most notably its first-ever win and first Hockey East victory over New Hampshire, Hamlen's alma mater, at Lawler Rink on Homecoming Weekend. She also led Merrimack to victories over Colgate, Brown and Vermont.
Hamlen would also coach two players to all-conference recognition in the program's inaugural season, as forward Paige Voight and goaltender Samantha Ridgewell were named to the Hockey East Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team.
Hamlen, who led the University of New England women’s hockey team during its inaugural season of existence in 2012-13, has charted the course for the Warriors since their inception and into Hockey East competition.
Prior to UNE, Hamlen spent a decade at the University of New Hampshire, a perennial power in the Women’s Hockey East Association. Hamlen held posts as both Associate Head Coach and Assistant Coach from 2000-10. During her tenure, Hamlen helped guide the Wildcats to four straight Hockey East tournament titles, six straight regular season crowns, and two appearances in the Frozen Four.
Hamlen has also enjoyed coaching stints at the national level; in 2005-06, she spent a year as an Assistant Coach on the USA Hockey Women's Select and National Teams, which earned a silver medal in the Women’s International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship. In 2007-08, she was also named an assistant coach with the USA Hockey U-18 Select Team that won the United States' first U-18 gold medal.
In 2010, Hamlen served the first-ever head coach for the Boston Blades, a professional women's team competing in the Canadian Women's Hockey League. She continued on with the Blades in an advisory role for the 2011-12 season.
The IIHF named Hamlen to a mentor role to Team China in 2011 and Team Japan in 2012, where she worked with the coaches and athletes of the governing bodies in order to find ways to improve the U-18 National Team's success in international competition. Most recently, she also had been named a USA Hockey Goaltending Scout/Coach.
During her decorated playing career, Hamlen was a four-time First-Team All-Star selection at UNH from 1989-93. She still ranks among the Wildcats' all-time leaders in victories, minutes played, and shutouts, and her career saves total (1,556) ranks fifth in program history. In 1990 and 1991, she helped lead UNH to a pair of ECAC Championship titles, and in 1992 she was selected ECAC Goaltender of the Year. She graduated from UNH with a bachelor's degree in psychology.
Hamlen was also the starting goaltender for the United States Women's National Ice Hockey Team from 1992-1997, and again from 1999-2000, earning USA Hockey Women's Player of the Year honors in 1994. She also played professionally for four different men's hockey organizations in the United States.

In 2017, Hamlen was honored as the first woman inducted into the Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame after becoming the first woman to play professional men's hockey in the ECHL, CHL and CoHL, going 5-3 with five teams across three seasons.
A Glens Falls, N.Y., native, Hamlen and her husband, Tim, reside in Hampton, N.H. with their two children.