Michael Sisti (Contributed/Mercyhurst College)

MINNEAPOLIS - Mercyhurst College women’s hockey coach Michael Sisti smiled when asked about his team’s morning practice on Thursday at the University of Minnesota‘s Ridder Arena.

“You want honesty?” Sisti asked, which evoked laughter from media members during the opening news conference at the NCAA Division I Frozen Four.

“It was probably the worst practice of the season,” he said. A blend of nerves and excitement left the Lakers unfocused for their first on-ice workout in preparation for Friday’s 6 p.m. ET semifinal game against Cornell.

“Some players were trying too much,” Sisti said. “Some were nervous. Some were probably trying to conserve energy for (Friday’s game). But it’s all right. We’ve solved so many problems on the go. That’s the story of our season.”

The Lakers understand the magnitude of this national championship tournament and the talent Cornell, Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth possess. “We’re excited,” junior forward Jesse Scanzano said. “But we’re definitely nervous because you never know what could happen in that one game.”

Sisti said the thought of skating his players hard in Friday morning’s skate crossed the coaching staff’s mind on Thursday. “But calmer heads prevailed,” he said. Instead, Sisti has scheduled an optional skate – his normal game-day plan all season. Despite the subpar practice on Thursday, Sisti isn’t concerned about his team.

“What’s great with this team is the resilience and also the focus when it’s time to focus,” he said. “With some of the maturity (on this young team), there’s days where we may not have everyone dialed in on every single day. But when it’s time to play, they play. They’d be nuts not to show up ready to play awesome. They know what’s at stake.” Read the rest of this entry »

Doug Derraugh (Contributed/Cornell University)

Cornell women’s hockey coach Doug Derraugh shared his scouting report on Mercyhurst College:

Q: What do you expect to see from Mercyhurst? And what did you learn from the first two meetings?
A: It’s hard to take a lot from the fact that we played (in October). It was our first game and it was close to their first game. They had played only a couple of games to that point. I would think both teams have changed quite a bit since then.

At the same time, you look at Mercyhurst. You don’t really see a weakness on that team. They’ve got great goaltending in (Hillary) Pattenden. They’ve got big, strong defensemen that move the puck well and handle the puck well and are good at both ends of the ice.

They’ve obviously got some forwards like (Bailey) Bram and (Jesse) Scanzano and (Vicki) Bendus and so on that are considered the top forwards in the country. You can’t really look at them and say there’s a weak point on their team. They’re strong top to bottom, and that’s why they only lost two games all year.

That’s why I think they are the favorite going in. But that said, it is a one-game situation, and anything can happen in one game. If we’re at the top of our game, then who knows?

Q: What does your team to do in that one game to beat Mercyhurst?

A: We’ll have to be extremely responsible defensively. They do have a lot of players that can create a lot. They’re really imaginative players. They go to the net hard. They skate well. We’re going to have to be really strong defensively and strong in our end. As every team at this of year, you’ve got to get good goaltending. You’ve got to finish your chances when you get opportunities to score. And you’ve got to take care of your own end. It’s pretty obvious. But that’s what we’re going to have to do in order to beat a team like Mercyhurst.

Q: How do you approach your first Frozen Four game?
A: We’ve talked about not getting caught up in everything that’s surrounding the tournament. That’s part of it. And then focusing in on the first 10 minutes, your first shift on the ice, making sure that you have a good first shift, get yourself going on that first shift and be prepared for that very first shift. Once you get yourself going, then you get settled in a little bit.

I’m sure there are going to be some nerves probably on both teams. Even though Mercyhurst has been there before, it is exciting to get to the Final Four again. I’m sure for both teams, they’ll need to get settled in early on.

- Victor Fernandes