Millcreek Township native Bryan Sienerth, who played for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite’s Under-16 hockey club this past season, has verbally committed to Miami University, a NCAA Division I school in Oxford, Ohio. Sienerth, 17, chose the RedHawks over scholarship offers from Dartmouth and Mercyhurst.
Sienerth also had interest from other schools both in and out of the Ivy League. “I pretty much fell in love (with the school) as soon as I got there,” Sienerth said of Miami. He credited advice from Justin Mercier, a Millcreek Township native and former Miami standout who has played professionally in the NHL (Colorado Avalanche) and overseas, for helping him make his decision. “Everything fell into place,” Sienerth said.
Sienerth would join the RedHawks as part of the incoming freshman class for the 2015-16 season or 2016-17 season, depending on how well he plays in the next two seasons. He will play for the Penguins Elite’s Under-18 team next season, and possibly some games for the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Stampede, which selected Sienerth in the eighth round of the United States Hockey League draft last month. He hopes to play full time for Sioux Falls in the 2014-15 season.
The Erie Otters chose him in the 13th round of the 2012 OHL Priority Selection. He attended training camp in Ancaster, Ontario, last August as well as the club’s rookie development camp a month ago. He hasn’t ruled out the OHL in the future, since NCAA players can leave school to play at the major junior level.

- Victor Fernandes

The Mercyhurst men’s hockey team will open the 2013-14 season by playing in the prestigious Ice Breaker Tournament for the first time. The 17-year-old event, which will be held Oct. 11-12 at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis, also will include Clarkson and New Hampshire and the host Gophers. The four teams in the field have reached a combined 89 NCAA Division I tournaments. Minnesota and New Hampshire made the national playoffs this past season.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Mercyhurst University women’s hockey team didn’t start fast this time around.
The 10th-ranked Lakers didn’t score in the first period after scoring twice in the opening 18 seconds in Friday’s season opener.
But the Lakers responded strong in the final two periods of a 7-0 College Hockey America win against Rochester Institute of Technology Saturday afternoon in front of 630 at James Ritter Memorial Ice Arena. Mercyhurst (2-0-0, 2-0-0 CHA) swept the season-opening series from the Tigers (0-2-0, 0-2-0), which are in their first season as a NCAA Division I program.
Freshman Emily Janiga provided the offensive spark with the first three goals and four points of her collegiate career. She snapped a scoreless tie 8 minutes, 15 seconds into the second period, and scored again 5 minutes later. She also assisted on Shelby Bram‘s goal that opened a 3-0 lead with 1:13 left in the period.
Janiga capped her first career hat trick 6:31 into the third. Christine Bestland scored twice in the period – her second and third goals of the season – and added two assists for a four-point outing. Kelsey Welch, one of three transfers from Niagara, scored her first goal as a Laker. Fellow transfers Jenna Hendrikx and Kaleigh Chippy had an assist apiece. Molly Byrne and Vaila Higson each had two assists for the Lakers, which went 3-for-9 on the power play after failing on all eight chances Friday.
Senior goaltender Stephanie Ciampa stopped all 17 shots she faced for her first career shutout in her sixth career start. The Lakers head to Hamden, Conn., next weekend for a two-game non-conference series at Quinnipiac.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Mercyhurst University women’s hockey team welcomed Rochester Institute of Technology to the big time harshly Friday night in front of 1,055 fans at Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena. The Lakers scored twice in the first 18 seconds and four goals in the opening period on the way to handing the Tigers a 6-2 loss in their first NCAA Division I game.
The 10th-ranked Lakers (1-0-0, 1-0-0 College Hockey America) scored six unanswered goals before RIT (0-1-0, 0-1-0), which moved to D-I after winning the D-III national championship a season ago, scored twice in the second period.
Christie Cicero scored eight seconds into the game on an assist from Christine Bestland. Cicero returned the favor 10 seconds later, as she set up Bestland for a 2-0 Lakers’ lead. Jenna Hendrikx, one of three transfers from the now-defunct women’s program at Niagara, scored the first of her two goals 8:13 into the first. Molly Byrne capped the onslaught 6:29 later.
Shelby Bram and Hendrikx scored early in the second for the Lakers, which produced offensively despite failing on all eight power-play chances. Carly Payerl and Katie Hubert scored for the Tigers, which went 1-for-8 on the power play.
Bestland had two assists in her three-point outing while Cicero had two points. Freshman Jenna Dingeldein had her first two career points, both assists, in her collegiate debut. Kathy Donohue, a Rochester native, and Emily Janiga, also recorded their first collegiate point on assists. Sophomore goaltender Amanda Makela (19 saves on 21 shots) earned the win in her second career start. The Lakers and Tigers complete the weekend series today at 2 p.m. in Rochester.

Joe Kimball, Mercyhurst University’s director of athletics, announced at a news conference Tuesday that men’s hockey Rick Gotkin and women’s coach Michael Sisti have signed four-year contracts that will keep them with their respective NCAA Division I programs through the 2015-16 season.
Gotkin also confirmed that his Lakers have been invited to play an outdoor game against Ohio State in December 2013 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
“It’s an exciting day at Mercyhurst University, especially for our two hockey programs,” Kimball said.
Gotkin and Sisti still had one year left on three-year deals. Yet their new contracts, which replace those previous deals, allow them to maintain the continuity at the top of their programs that prospective student-athletes and their families search for during the recruiting process.
“When you look a kid in the eye and they ask if you’re going to be here, you’ve got the feeling you’re going to be here,” said Sisti, who heads into his 14th season as women’s coach after spending his first six years at Mercyhurst as Gotkin’s assistant. “But it’s nice to have it on paper, so you can look them in the eye back and say, ‘I’m definitely going to be here.’ It helps them feel good about the process.”
The first outdoor hockey game in school history also would serve as a great recruiting tool. Ohio State faced rival Michigan this past January in front of 25,864 fans at Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians baseball team, in the first outdoor college hockey game in Ohio.
“It’s a great reflection of our program from top to bottom,” Gotkin said. “I think people realize we have a big-time program.”
The game isn’t official yet, said Gotkin, who received the invitation from OSU officials this past weekend. The schools await confirmation from the Indians. Mercyhurst and OSU already are scheduled to play a two-game weekend series in Columbus Dec. 13-14, 2013. Gotkin said the Dec. 14 game would move to Progressive Field.

- Victor Fernandes

Lindenwood University has applied to join College Hockey America, a five-team NCAA Division I conference that includes Mercyhurst College, for the 2012-13 season, the league announced Wednesday.

“The directors have accepted the application of Lindenwood University for admission into the CHA,” commissioner Robert DeGregorio said in a prepared statement. “We will begin the process for admission, which will include a campus visit as soon as possible.”

Lindenwood, located in St. Charles, Mo., enters its first Division I women’s hockey season in 2011-12 as an independent after winning four ACHA club national championships in the past six years. The Lions open the season Sept. 23 at defending national champion Wisconsin. They face Mercyhurst four times this season – Oct. 28-29 at home and Dec. 14-15 at Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Lindenwood would be the sixth team in the CHA, which recently admitted Penn State for the 2012-13 season. The league also includes Niagara, Robert Morris and Syracuse. A six-team league would make the CHA eligible for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, Mercyhurst coach Michael Sisti said. But a decision hasn’t been made on whether the league would earn that bid in 2012-13 or wait two years.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine will serve as the presenting sponsor of the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, as announced today by The USA Hockey Foundation. The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is an annual honor bestowed upon the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey.

The 2011 award ceremony and brunch will take place on March 19 at the Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Women’s Frozen Four (March 18 & 20).

“We’re extremely grateful for LECOM’s support of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director for The USA Hockey Foundation. “They share our passion for helping the sport continue to grow, in part through the visibility this award provides.”

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine is a private, graduate school of osteopathic medicine and pharmacy. Located in Erie, Pa., with branch campuses in Greensburg, Pa., and Bradenton, Fla., LECOM is the nation’s largest medical college offering innovative, affordable medical education, including three-year doctor of osteopathic medicine and doctor of pharmacy degrees.

Last year, Mercyhurst College forward Vicki Bendus took home the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Other previous winners include Jennifer Botterill (2001 & 2003), Julie Chu (2007), A.J. Mleczko (1999) and Angela Ruggiero (2004).

Tickets to the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award ceremony may be purchased by calling (719) 538-1184 or by submitting a completed ticket form (located at PattyKaz.com). Individual seats are $65 while tables of 10 are available for $600.

NOTES: The top-10 finalists for the award will be announced on March 3, while the top-three selections will be released on March 10 … The award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, who was a four-year varsity letter-winner and All-Ivy League defenseman for Princeton University from 1981-86. An accomplished athlete who helped lead the Tigers to the Ivy League Championship in three consecutive seasons (1981-84), Patty Kazmaier-Sandt died on Feb. 15, 1990, at the age of 28, following a long struggle with a rare blood disease … For more information and to sign up for the Kaz Connection, a free monthly e-newsletter dedicated solely to the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, visit PattyKaz.com.

- From USA Hockey news release

Mercyhurst College senior goaltender Ryan Zapolski, an Erie native, recently was named to the third team on Inside College Hockey‘s preseason NCAA Division I all-American list.

HAVERHILL, Mass. – The directors for College Hockey America, one of the four NCAA Division I Women’s ice hockey leagues, announced today that Robert M. DeGregorio, Jr. has been named commissioner.  In addition, the directors named David Rourke as director of media relations and Eugene Binda as supervisor of officials.

“We want to place the management of our league in the hands of an experienced leader,”  stated Ed McLaughlin, director of athletics at Niagara University.  “Commissioner DeGregorio is known throughout the hockey community and he has the management experience to lead and grow our league into the future.”

“I am very excited about this new opportunity,” stated DeGregorio.  “The CHA is very competitive and it will be an honor to be associated with this very successful group of institutions.”

The CHA is comprised of five institutions.  They are Mercyhurst College, Niagara University, Robert Morris University, Syracuse University and Wayne State University.

- From CHA news release

Rick Gotkin (Contributed/USCHO.com)

Head coach Rick Gotkin of the Mercyhurst College men’s hockey team released Monday the details of the Lakers’ 2010-11 schedule, highlighted by 18 regular-season home games, a date with perennial power Michigan and a possible meeting against defending NCAA Division I champion Boston College.

“We’re very excited and really looking forward to this season,” said coach Gotkin, who is sitting on 399 wins entering his 23rd season at Mercyhurst. “We want to have a challenging schedule to prepare our players for the road ahead. Playing teams such as Michigan and Boston College gives us the experience to tackle the teams in our conference. Our league has gotten better and better over the years, and with the addition of Robert Morris and Niagara this season, it’s probably the toughest it’s ever been.”

The Lakers will play 34 regular-season games and two exhibition contests in their 24th season of intercollegiate play. Twenty-seven of those games will be against teams from Atlantic Hockey Association, while the remaining seven put the Lakers up against foes from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC Hockey), and possibly Hockey East (HEA).

Unlike previous years, Gotkin and his squad won’t have an opportunity to get a tune-up in before their first game as they head straight to Ann Arbor, Mich., to face Michigan on Oct. 2 at Yost Ice Arena. It will be the season opener for both squads and the first time the Lakers and Wolverines faced off against each other since a 5-3 loss in the 2003-04 season.

After the bout with the Wolverines, the Lakers return home to open the doors to the Mercyhurst Ice Center with a five-game home stand, beginning with an exhibition contest against Queens University, a Kingston, Ontario, school, on Oct. 3. A two-game series against Western Michigan (Oct. 15-16) follows before Canisius comes to town on Oct. 19 and the United States Under-18 National Team for another exhibition on Oct. 24.

The Lakers resume league play for the next 11 games, beginning with consecutive road singles at Niagara (Oct. 29) and Air Force (Nov. 5). The next five contests feature a pair of two-game home series against Army (Nov. 12-13) and American International (Nov. 26-27) sandwiched around a game at Robert Morris on Nov. 19. A trip to Sacred Heart (Dec. 3-4) and a home series against Rochester Institute of Technology (Dec. 10-11) close out the stretch and lead the team into non-conference action for the rest of the month.

Following a series against former Division II rival Alabama-Huntsville (Dec. 16-17) at home, the Lakers will have two weeks off before taking part in the 2010 Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover, N.H., where they will face Dartmouth (Dec. 30) in the opening game and either Boston College or Colgate, depending on the outcome, the next day.

Mercyhurst has not faced Boston College since a 5-4 setback in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Division I Tournament.

Atlantic Hockey play then heats up again as the Lakers open up the second half of the season on the road at Connecticut (Jan. 7-8), followed by a home series against Holy Cross (Jan. 14-15) and a trip to Bentley (Jan. 21-22). Mercyhurst closes out its three-game season series with RIT in Rochester, N.Y. on Jan. 29, taking the team into the final month of the regular season.

Back-to-back home-and-home series kick off the month of February with the Lakers facing Niagara (Feb. 4-5) and Robert Morris (Feb. 11-12). Both series will have Mercyhurst on the road for the first contest. Air Force (Feb. 18-19) then closes out its series with a pair at the Mercyhurst Ice Center before the regular-season finale against Canisius on Feb. 25 on the road and Feb. 26 in Erie.

- From Mercyhurst news release