CHA Storylines: Mercyhurst University

I am sharing some broad College Hockey America (CHA) storylines, as I see them. I will tackle one team per post, in order of regular season standings from 2017-2018.

For reference, I’ve posted the CHA standings for the past seven years, below. Look how close the race between first and second is, for the past three years (click to enlarge):

After writing about the Robert Morris University Colonials last week, now we go 120 miles north to Erie, Pa, home of the Mercyhurst Lakers.

Mercyhurst University Lakers

Location: Erie, Pa

Joined the CHA: 2002

Coaching Staff: Mike Sisti, Kelley Steadman, Beth Hanrahan

2017-2018 Record: 18-15-4 (CHA 13-4-3 2nd place regular season, CHA Tournament Champion)

2018-2019 Non-Conference Opponents: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Cornell, Union, Bemidji, Ohio State, Colgate

They Lakers' head coach is Mike Sisti, who started the program in 1999. Sisti has led the program to a lot of success over the years; they've done everything except win a National Championship.

Mercyhurst is one of five programs to have had just one Division I head coach - Syracuse, Merrimack, Holy Cross, and Boston University have also only known one head coach in their Division I history (some of which are admittedly short histories). Across all of Division I hockey, only Katie Stone of Harvard has been at the same program longer than Coach Sisti. She has been there since 1994, before the NCAA era even began.

Rounding out the Mercyhurst coaching staff is Mercyhurst alum Kelley Steadman, in her second year, and Beth Hanrahan who recently joined the team after coaching at Lindenwood. Beth played at Providence.

The Lakers are the only founding CHA team still in the league, a reflection of Mercyhurst's commitment to the program, and also a reflection of the fragility of NCAA Division I hockey outside of Minnesota and the Northeast. The Lakers have won 12 CHA tournaments, and won the regular season 14 out of 16 seasons. They received votes in top ten polls last year but only got into it in the final poll of the season, when they earned a #10 ranking after winning the CHA Tournament and losing 2-1 in OT to eventual National Champion, Clarkson Golden Knights.

This year's seniors have so far accumulated two CHA Tournament Championships and one regular season title in their NCAA careers. They look to go out winning, with a body of work exceeding that of the seniors on their arch rival RMU Colonials, who have two regular season championships and one CHA Tournament Championship.

The main storyline for the Mercyhurst Lakers is their plight to reclaim the CHA regular season title, for the first time since 2016. The Lakers inconsistency has cost them in recent years. Last year they dropped their conference opener vs Lindenwood, losing two points that would ultimately be the difference between first in second in league play. After that opening loss, the Lakers were pretty strong in conference play. Most impressively they split two games a piece against Robert Morris, and went 3-1 against Syracuse, including an overtime winner. Like RMU, Mercyhurst struggled against Penn State, going  1-0-3 against the Nittany Lions.

In order to win the conference this year the Lakers will need Nuutinen to keep her game at the level it was post Olympics, and all the Lakers must strive to match it.

Why they're fun to cheer for: Because I'm an alumna. But also because of the longevity of their dominance of the CHA. You keep thinking that at some point they need to fall off, and to some extent they inevitably have, but other than 2017, the Lakers have won something in the CHA every year of its existence. Even last year, the Lakers didn't have a player score more than 29 points, and yet they beat RMU in the Tournament. The Lakers ability to surprise, and gut out wins keeps them interesting.They simply don't have gaudy stats, but to watch them play you can tell they are well coached, talented, and never quit. And they've won because of it.

What they're trying to prove: First and foremost the Lakers want to take care of league play. They want to quell conversation that says the CHA is anyone's for the taking. Nothing is more important than winning the CHA regular season and Tournament. But the Lakers would love to be a staple in the top ten again as well. To be in the top ten they will need to get some wins against ranked opponents, as well as not have any missteps in league play.

Why they’ll win the CHA regular season: It's just what they do. Even if you only look at 2011 to last year, the Lakers have won five out of seven regular season championships. With the talent of Nuutinen leading the way on offense, and a historically strong defense, the Lakers will be tough to beat.

Why they won’t: Special teams often make the difference. The Lakers power play was 5th in the CHA last year operating at 12.82 percent overall. RMU (1st in CHA) was at 20.47%.

The bottom line: I think this team will be better than last years. Like last year, they need to stick together through a challenging non conference schedule, and fight for what will become some special wins. A little more consistency against the bottom half of the conference should generate enough points to win them the conference.