I'm counting down the memorable moments of the Mercyhurst hockey season. Here are links to moment 10, moment 9, moment 8, moment 7, moment 6, moment 5, moment 4.
2017-2018 Memorable Moment #3: Tanskanen Scores a Hat Trick at Syracuse on January 27
This memory is about seeing a display of excellence in the wake of individual disappointment.
When it was announced that Finnish hockey players and former UND Fighting Hawks Emma Nuutinen and Vilma Tanskanen were coming to Mercyhurst, one of the questions was whether they would both be 2018 Olympians. Both players were 2014 Olympians for Finland. In the end sophomore Nuutinen was selected for the 2018 Olympics and junior Tanksanen was named first alternate, but did not make the team.
Publicly, Tanskanen showed complete grace with her comments, making the already likeable hockey player even more so. Per Mercyhurst's website:
"Words can't really tell how disappointed I am," said Tanskanen of not
making the Olympic roster. "I worked really hard for it but sometimes
it's not enough. But it's still a great honor to be named an alternate
and I am ready if Team Finland needs me. I am really happy for Emma
because she has been working really hard. It's a huge honor for her and
she is like my sister, so I am so happy for her."
The roster was named on January 22nd, and four days later the Lakers took on Syracuse in a CHA series. After hoping all week that Nuutinen would be around for game one, I learned she was going to be available. I was happy, but despite Nuutinen playing, Syracuse won game one. Nuutinen departed for the Olympics, and the Lakers had another game to play.
Next day, new day, new game. Who was going to lead the Lakers to a win? Vilma Tanskanen, that's who. Knocked down, but not out, Vilma scored the eventual game winner late in the first. She scored again early in the third, and finished the hat trick with a power play goal late in the third. The Lakers won 4-0. It was Tanksanen's first collegiate hat trick, and the first Mercyhurst Laker hat trick since 2014.
I was happy for her. I doubt it eases the pain of not making the Olympics, but it was a display of excellence, perseverance and self confidence in her own game that any fan and athlete could enjoy and be inspired by. There's a lesson in there somewhere, I'm sure.
Tanskanen was quiet on the scoreboard the next couple weeks, but finished the CHA season with a 4 game point streak, including two assists in the CHA playoffs. She finished 2nd on the team in points with 27 in 33 games, first in goals with 14, and had the second best shooting percentage with 14%.
As a rising senior, Tanskanen will be a key piece of Mercyhurst's offense in 2018-2019, just like she was all year, and especially on that day of her hat trick, in January.
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Thursday, May 17, 2018
2017-2018 Memorable Moment #4: 3rd Period Comeback over Ohio State University
I'm counting down the memorable moments of the Mercyhurst hockey season. Here are links to moment 10, moment 9, moment 8, moment 7, moment 6, moment 5.
2017-2018 Memorable Moment #4: 3rd Period Comeback to beat #7/6 Ohio State University on December 16.
In the last series of the 2017 calendar year, the Lakers were still looking for a big non-conference win. They had had plenty of opportunities, with a schedule that included Wisconsin, St. Lawrence, Minnesota, and Colgate, but were 0-7-1 against the group, including two overtime losses. Ohio State represented the Lakers last opportunity of 2017 to make a non conference statement win against a ranked team.
Ohio State beat Mercyhurst 2-1 in game one of the series the day before, scoring the winner with less than two minutes left in the third. (Ugh!) Despite a large home crowd, game 2 of the series wasn’t going Mercyhurst’s way either. In front of 950 Laker faithful (including a few OSU fans I'm sure), the Lakers were losing 4-2 with 7 minutes left in the third. It’s over I thought. Good thing I’m not a player because it was far from over. With 6:33 to go in the third, sophomore Sam Isbell (Thunder Bay, Ontario) scored to pull within one. A minute later OSU took a penalty, and about 30 seconds into the power play, senior Brooke Hartwick (London, Ontario) tied the game.
This is impressive on its own, but consider that OSU had All-American Kassidy Sauve in net, and had at that point a 12-3-4 record, with losses only to Wisconsin and Robert Morris, two ranked teams.
There was just under 5 minutes left in the tie game, and the Lakers weren’t done their scoring: at 18:05 of the third sophomore Celine Frappier (Tecumseh, Ontario) scored and the Lakers had their first lead of the game. This time, they wouldn’t relinquish it, and also picked up an empty net goal, to win 6-4. With the win, Laker goaltender junior Sarah McDonnell (Oakville, Ontario) earned her biggest win of the season.
The win wasn’t enough to get the Lakers into the polls, and in fact they didn't even receive a vote, but the win was still of value in that it gave them a W for their record, gave them a big non conference win to recruit on, and gave them a shot of confidence going into Christmas and the second half of the season. Both teams had a solid second half of the season; Mercyhurst ended up winning the CHA tourney, and in Ohio State's case the highlights included a home sweep of Wisconsin, and making it to the Frozen Four for the first time in program history.
The series split nurtures a budding rivalry between Ohio State and Mercyhurst. At 240 miles apart, Erie, Pa to Columbus, Ohio is one of the shortest non conference drives either team has. Despite this, the teams have only met 6 times in their nineteen year histories. The teams played a one game series in each of the 02-03 and 03-04 seasons. Mercyhurst won both games by one goal, in tightly contested games that could have been won by either team. Sadly, the schools never played each other again until a one game series in each of 2013-14 (Ohio State won in OT), and 2014-15 (Mercyhurst won 3-0) seasons.
I can't help but wonder why these teams have played each other so few times. In Ohio State’s eyes they may have felt that dealing with the grueling WCHA conference, they had nothing to gain by adding an at times great, and always difficult to play against Mercyhurst into the mix. From Ohio State’s perspective it may have been no big deal to drop Mercyhurst from their schedule, but I know as a former Laker, there was a thrill in playing schools with national name brand recognition, and it was especially cool to host those teams. To have Hurst and OSU so geographically close, and rarely playing each other was unfortunate.
Luckily, the trend might be turning. The two game series that was played this year was a step in the right direction, and OSU has Mercyhurst scheduled for two games in 2018-2019, as well. With the demise of the UND women’s hockey program the WCHA league membership has shrunk to 7, and each team has 4 more non conference games to schedule, which will further make room for an OSU Mercyhurst matchup. In 2017-2018 OSU played 8 games vs CHA teams (4 games vs RMU, 2 a piece vs Mercyhurst and Penn State); next year Mercyhurst is the only CHA team on the slate.
This time, Mercyhurst will travel to Ohio State on December 15 and 16, and the rivalry will continue. Maybe someone will even sweep.
***
The WCHA has already released its composite 2018-2019 schedule. WCHA games on Mercyhurst's schedule next year include the same WCHA opponents as 2017-2018, only with location reversed. In 2018-2019 Mercyhurst will be:
Vs. Wisconsin weekend of October 5
At. Minnesota weekend of September 28
At. Ohio State weekend of December 15
Vs. Bemidji weekend of December 7
2017-2018 Memorable Moment #4: 3rd Period Comeback to beat #7/6 Ohio State University on December 16.
In the last series of the 2017 calendar year, the Lakers were still looking for a big non-conference win. They had had plenty of opportunities, with a schedule that included Wisconsin, St. Lawrence, Minnesota, and Colgate, but were 0-7-1 against the group, including two overtime losses. Ohio State represented the Lakers last opportunity of 2017 to make a non conference statement win against a ranked team.
Ohio State beat Mercyhurst 2-1 in game one of the series the day before, scoring the winner with less than two minutes left in the third. (Ugh!) Despite a large home crowd, game 2 of the series wasn’t going Mercyhurst’s way either. In front of 950 Laker faithful (including a few OSU fans I'm sure), the Lakers were losing 4-2 with 7 minutes left in the third. It’s over I thought. Good thing I’m not a player because it was far from over. With 6:33 to go in the third, sophomore Sam Isbell (Thunder Bay, Ontario) scored to pull within one. A minute later OSU took a penalty, and about 30 seconds into the power play, senior Brooke Hartwick (London, Ontario) tied the game.
This is impressive on its own, but consider that OSU had All-American Kassidy Sauve in net, and had at that point a 12-3-4 record, with losses only to Wisconsin and Robert Morris, two ranked teams.
There was just under 5 minutes left in the tie game, and the Lakers weren’t done their scoring: at 18:05 of the third sophomore Celine Frappier (Tecumseh, Ontario) scored and the Lakers had their first lead of the game. This time, they wouldn’t relinquish it, and also picked up an empty net goal, to win 6-4. With the win, Laker goaltender junior Sarah McDonnell (Oakville, Ontario) earned her biggest win of the season.
The win wasn’t enough to get the Lakers into the polls, and in fact they didn't even receive a vote, but the win was still of value in that it gave them a W for their record, gave them a big non conference win to recruit on, and gave them a shot of confidence going into Christmas and the second half of the season. Both teams had a solid second half of the season; Mercyhurst ended up winning the CHA tourney, and in Ohio State's case the highlights included a home sweep of Wisconsin, and making it to the Frozen Four for the first time in program history.
The series split nurtures a budding rivalry between Ohio State and Mercyhurst. At 240 miles apart, Erie, Pa to Columbus, Ohio is one of the shortest non conference drives either team has. Despite this, the teams have only met 6 times in their nineteen year histories. The teams played a one game series in each of the 02-03 and 03-04 seasons. Mercyhurst won both games by one goal, in tightly contested games that could have been won by either team. Sadly, the schools never played each other again until a one game series in each of 2013-14 (Ohio State won in OT), and 2014-15 (Mercyhurst won 3-0) seasons.
I can't help but wonder why these teams have played each other so few times. In Ohio State’s eyes they may have felt that dealing with the grueling WCHA conference, they had nothing to gain by adding an at times great, and always difficult to play against Mercyhurst into the mix. From Ohio State’s perspective it may have been no big deal to drop Mercyhurst from their schedule, but I know as a former Laker, there was a thrill in playing schools with national name brand recognition, and it was especially cool to host those teams. To have Hurst and OSU so geographically close, and rarely playing each other was unfortunate.
Luckily, the trend might be turning. The two game series that was played this year was a step in the right direction, and OSU has Mercyhurst scheduled for two games in 2018-2019, as well. With the demise of the UND women’s hockey program the WCHA league membership has shrunk to 7, and each team has 4 more non conference games to schedule, which will further make room for an OSU Mercyhurst matchup. In 2017-2018 OSU played 8 games vs CHA teams (4 games vs RMU, 2 a piece vs Mercyhurst and Penn State); next year Mercyhurst is the only CHA team on the slate.
This time, Mercyhurst will travel to Ohio State on December 15 and 16, and the rivalry will continue. Maybe someone will even sweep.
***
The WCHA has already released its composite 2018-2019 schedule. WCHA games on Mercyhurst's schedule next year include the same WCHA opponents as 2017-2018, only with location reversed. In 2018-2019 Mercyhurst will be:
Vs. Wisconsin weekend of October 5
At. Minnesota weekend of September 28
At. Ohio State weekend of December 15
Vs. Bemidji weekend of December 7
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
2017-2018 Memorable Moment #5: Coach Sisti and the Lakers get their 450th Win
I'm counting down the memorable moments of the Mercyhurst hockey season. Here are links to moment 10, moment 9, moment 8, moment 7, moment 6.
Memorable moment #5: Sisti Earns 450th career win, in 2-1 OT win over Syracuse on December 9, 2017.
On December 9th vs CHA opponent Syracuse, Mercyhurst was down 1-0 going into the third. Emma Nuutinen scored in the third period to make it 1-1, then she scored again in overtime to win it. The win put Mercyhurst ahead of Syracuse in the standings, second to Robert Morris University. The winning goal is here (has sound):
The game marked Head Coach Sisti's 450th career win, all at Mercyhurst. By the end of the year he was at 462 wins, 2nd all-time for women's division one NCAA hockey. Katie Stone of Harvard is currently the leader with 464 wins, Mark Johnson of Wisconsin is 3rd with 459 wins. Shannon Miller, formerly the University of Minnesota-Duluth coach, had 383 wins and is currently 4th all time in wins.
I didn't watch the Syracuse game, so that's about all I can tell you about win 450. Interestingly, it was a lot like win #50. Win #50 was at St. Cloud in 2001, the last series before Christmas. We were down 1-0 going into the third. We tied it in the third, and won 2-1 in overtime. It was the only college overtime goal I ever scored. I have no celebration game other than to put my arms in the air and stand there yelling and cheering, so our team celebrated right there just above the goalie's crease. Coach kind of teased us about that, but whatever. We were having fun.
Us players had no idea that it was the program's fiftieth win, but Coach did, and he told us so post game, while tossing the game puck off the dressing room wall. He asked me where I shot the puck, trying to prove a point. Low and on net. It wasn't a pretty goal, was nothing like the breakaway goal in win #450, but it worked.
I don't know Coach's thoughts on 450 wins, though I'd be curious to hear them. Myself, reflecting on what the program has done in 19 years, first off I am in awe of the consistency of the winning and the heights the program climbed to, at times. What an accomplishment by the players, coaches, administration and all who support the team.
But the thing that brings me the most happiness and has the greatest impact on me is thinking about the number of women who had the opportunity to get to play college hockey, and be part of a first class, well run program. The university does its best for its hockey programs, and I always felt that the school cared as much about the women's team as it did the men's. Giving an opportunity, doing your best for the players, promoting equality; these are some things I love about the school and program.
Obviously, Coach is a big part of that. Because of that, I couldn't be happier for his continued success. Congrats on 450, and go get the next win, Lakers!
Memorable moment #5: Sisti Earns 450th career win, in 2-1 OT win over Syracuse on December 9, 2017.
On December 9th vs CHA opponent Syracuse, Mercyhurst was down 1-0 going into the third. Emma Nuutinen scored in the third period to make it 1-1, then she scored again in overtime to win it. The win put Mercyhurst ahead of Syracuse in the standings, second to Robert Morris University. The winning goal is here (has sound):
GAME OVER! @nuutinenn ends it with her second goal of the day! pic.twitter.com/bMbDfE56fC— Mercyhurst W. Hockey (@HurstWHockey) December 9, 2017
The game marked Head Coach Sisti's 450th career win, all at Mercyhurst. By the end of the year he was at 462 wins, 2nd all-time for women's division one NCAA hockey. Katie Stone of Harvard is currently the leader with 464 wins, Mark Johnson of Wisconsin is 3rd with 459 wins. Shannon Miller, formerly the University of Minnesota-Duluth coach, had 383 wins and is currently 4th all time in wins.
I didn't watch the Syracuse game, so that's about all I can tell you about win 450. Interestingly, it was a lot like win #50. Win #50 was at St. Cloud in 2001, the last series before Christmas. We were down 1-0 going into the third. We tied it in the third, and won 2-1 in overtime. It was the only college overtime goal I ever scored. I have no celebration game other than to put my arms in the air and stand there yelling and cheering, so our team celebrated right there just above the goalie's crease. Coach kind of teased us about that, but whatever. We were having fun.
Us players had no idea that it was the program's fiftieth win, but Coach did, and he told us so post game, while tossing the game puck off the dressing room wall. He asked me where I shot the puck, trying to prove a point. Low and on net. It wasn't a pretty goal, was nothing like the breakaway goal in win #450, but it worked.
I don't know Coach's thoughts on 450 wins, though I'd be curious to hear them. Myself, reflecting on what the program has done in 19 years, first off I am in awe of the consistency of the winning and the heights the program climbed to, at times. What an accomplishment by the players, coaches, administration and all who support the team.
But the thing that brings me the most happiness and has the greatest impact on me is thinking about the number of women who had the opportunity to get to play college hockey, and be part of a first class, well run program. The university does its best for its hockey programs, and I always felt that the school cared as much about the women's team as it did the men's. Giving an opportunity, doing your best for the players, promoting equality; these are some things I love about the school and program.
Obviously, Coach is a big part of that. Because of that, I couldn't be happier for his continued success. Congrats on 450, and go get the next win, Lakers!
Saturday, May 5, 2018
2017-2018 Memorable Moment #6: Rivalry Win at Robert Morris University
I'm counting down the memorable moments of the Mercyhurst hockey season. Here are links to moment 10, moment 9, moment 8, moment 7.
Memorable Moment #6: 1-0 Win at #9 Robert Morris on December 1, 2017
Every season has a narrative, and I've said before that for the 2017-2018 Mercyhurst hockey team it was responding to the rare losing season they experienced in 2016-2017. For Robert Morris, 2017-2018 was about living up to the hype they created that same season.
RMU went 24-5-6 in 2016-2017, winning the CHA regular season for the first time in program history and the CHA tournament for the second time since joining the league in 2005. With their regular season championship, they became the first team other than Mercyhurst to win the regular season outright, in the league's then 15 year history. Mercyhurst has won the regular season in every other year, sharing the title once with Wayne State. RMU was picked to win the CHA in this year's pre-season polls as a result of last year's success. In addition to team success, Robert Morris had the 2016-2017 USCHO Rookie of the Year in Jaycee Gebhard (Plenty, Saskatchewan), and a potent scorer in Brittany Howard (St. Thomas, Ontario) who put up 50 points her junior year.
When Robert Morris and Mercyhurst met on December 1, 2017 Robert Morris was still the favorite. They entered the weekend ranked 9th in the country, and had a record of 10-2-2. They had just beaten #5 Ohio State the week before (RMU's highest ranked win in program history), and Brittany Howard and Jaycee Gebhard were continuing their scoring with 26 and 18 points respectively coming into the Mercyhurst series.
Enter Mercyhurst. Mercyhurst entered the series coming off a series split versus RPI at home, and a record of 3-9-2. They were unranked. Taking nothing away from Robert Morris's impressive record it is of note that Mercyhurst played a monstrous first half schedule including Minnesota, Colgate, and Wisconsin - all eventual NCAA tournament teams. CHA fans knew that a comparison of the records only did not tell the whole story and were eager to see this head to head match up betwen two conference rivals. Nationally, it was expected RMU would sweep the series, with both USCHO columnists picking RMU to win both games.
Given the anticipation of this game, I decided to drive to Neville Island (near Pittsburgh) and watch it live. Robert Morris is one of the few programs that doesn't have an on campus arena, instead playing at an off campus school owned rink, located six miles from campus. The arena has two ice surfaces, so lots of activity and people at the rink. The 1200 seat capacity rink that RMU calls home has player benches on one side of the rink, and bleacher seating on the opposite side. The seats in the front row are somewhat elevated and right up against the glass, which makes all the seating feel that much closer to the action. In one of the corners on the players' bench side of the rink there is a small section of seating where the band sits, and plays with vigor, at breaks in the action. The mascot, a Colonial dude with a pony tail walked around adding to the atmosphere for the 386 fans out for the game.
The game was a CHA classic. Freshman Kennedy Blair got the start in net for Mercyhurst. RMU probably had the momentum in the first, with two power plays and the edge in shots 13-10, but the score was 0-0 after one period.
In the second, it was RMU who got into penalty trouble, resulting in a five on three in the middle of the second period. The Lakers made them pay, going up 1-0, on a Brooke Hartwick (London, Ontario) wrister from the top of the circles. There's nothing like breaking a tie to elevate the intensity of a game, and the teams played hard to the end of the second. The score held, and after two periods it was 1-0 Mercyhurst, and shots were 21-20 in favor of RMU.
The third period took the intensity of the second to another level. RMU pushed hard for the equalizer but it never came. Not only did the Lakers kill two huge penalties, but scoring threat Brittany Howard had a break away in the final minutes of the game. It was turned assigned by the right pad of Blair, who made ten stops in the third, a period that was offensively dominated by RMU. Howard would take eight shots on the day, denied each time. It was the first time RMU was shut out all season.
The buzzer went and so ended another game between the CHA rivals. For Mercyhurst it was a statement win on the road against the reigning CHA champ. For Robert Morris, it was a reminder of what it's like to play with a bulls eye on your back. Both teams played well, and in Mercyhurst's case, unfazed by any hype.
Memorable Moment #6: 1-0 Win at #9 Robert Morris on December 1, 2017
Every season has a narrative, and I've said before that for the 2017-2018 Mercyhurst hockey team it was responding to the rare losing season they experienced in 2016-2017. For Robert Morris, 2017-2018 was about living up to the hype they created that same season.
RMU went 24-5-6 in 2016-2017, winning the CHA regular season for the first time in program history and the CHA tournament for the second time since joining the league in 2005. With their regular season championship, they became the first team other than Mercyhurst to win the regular season outright, in the league's then 15 year history. Mercyhurst has won the regular season in every other year, sharing the title once with Wayne State. RMU was picked to win the CHA in this year's pre-season polls as a result of last year's success. In addition to team success, Robert Morris had the 2016-2017 USCHO Rookie of the Year in Jaycee Gebhard (Plenty, Saskatchewan), and a potent scorer in Brittany Howard (St. Thomas, Ontario) who put up 50 points her junior year.
When Robert Morris and Mercyhurst met on December 1, 2017 Robert Morris was still the favorite. They entered the weekend ranked 9th in the country, and had a record of 10-2-2. They had just beaten #5 Ohio State the week before (RMU's highest ranked win in program history), and Brittany Howard and Jaycee Gebhard were continuing their scoring with 26 and 18 points respectively coming into the Mercyhurst series.
Enter Mercyhurst. Mercyhurst entered the series coming off a series split versus RPI at home, and a record of 3-9-2. They were unranked. Taking nothing away from Robert Morris's impressive record it is of note that Mercyhurst played a monstrous first half schedule including Minnesota, Colgate, and Wisconsin - all eventual NCAA tournament teams. CHA fans knew that a comparison of the records only did not tell the whole story and were eager to see this head to head match up betwen two conference rivals. Nationally, it was expected RMU would sweep the series, with both USCHO columnists picking RMU to win both games.
Given the anticipation of this game, I decided to drive to Neville Island (near Pittsburgh) and watch it live. Robert Morris is one of the few programs that doesn't have an on campus arena, instead playing at an off campus school owned rink, located six miles from campus. The arena has two ice surfaces, so lots of activity and people at the rink. The 1200 seat capacity rink that RMU calls home has player benches on one side of the rink, and bleacher seating on the opposite side. The seats in the front row are somewhat elevated and right up against the glass, which makes all the seating feel that much closer to the action. In one of the corners on the players' bench side of the rink there is a small section of seating where the band sits, and plays with vigor, at breaks in the action. The mascot, a Colonial dude with a pony tail walked around adding to the atmosphere for the 386 fans out for the game.
The game was a CHA classic. Freshman Kennedy Blair got the start in net for Mercyhurst. RMU probably had the momentum in the first, with two power plays and the edge in shots 13-10, but the score was 0-0 after one period.
In the second, it was RMU who got into penalty trouble, resulting in a five on three in the middle of the second period. The Lakers made them pay, going up 1-0, on a Brooke Hartwick (London, Ontario) wrister from the top of the circles. There's nothing like breaking a tie to elevate the intensity of a game, and the teams played hard to the end of the second. The score held, and after two periods it was 1-0 Mercyhurst, and shots were 21-20 in favor of RMU.
The third period took the intensity of the second to another level. RMU pushed hard for the equalizer but it never came. Not only did the Lakers kill two huge penalties, but scoring threat Brittany Howard had a break away in the final minutes of the game. It was turned assigned by the right pad of Blair, who made ten stops in the third, a period that was offensively dominated by RMU. Howard would take eight shots on the day, denied each time. It was the first time RMU was shut out all season.
The buzzer went and so ended another game between the CHA rivals. For Mercyhurst it was a statement win on the road against the reigning CHA champ. For Robert Morris, it was a reminder of what it's like to play with a bulls eye on your back. Both teams played well, and in Mercyhurst's case, unfazed by any hype.
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