Mercyhurst men’s head coach Rick Gotkin and women’s coach Michael Sisti have each signed four-year contract extensions through the 2019-2020 season.<\/p>\n
“Clearly, Rick and Mike have built a championship culture at Mercyhurst and we are thrilled to have them continue their leadership of our Division I hockey programs for the next five years,” Mercyhurst president Michael Victor said in a statement. “This is a big day for Lakers hockey and we look forward to continuing this winning tradition with Mike and Rick at the helm.”<\/p>\n
Gotkin enters his 28th season as head coach of the men’s hockey team. He is the only coach in NCAA history to take a team to the NCAA tournament at all three levels. He has guided the Lakers to nearly 500 wins, six NCAA tournament appearances and five league championships. Overall, he has accumulated a 493-352-76 record, which includes a Division I mark of 306-242-61. His teams have averaged 18 wins a season and have made the postseason in 25 of the 27 years he has been at Mercyhurst.<\/p>\n
In June of 2015, Gotkin was inducted into the Erie Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
“I am very pleased to continue this exciting journey at Mercyhurst, where every day I have the unbelievable opportunity of working with fabulous people, from student-athletes and fellow coaches, both past and present, to the supportive administrators who have made it all possible,” Gotkin added in a statement.<\/p>\n
In 16 years, Sisti has turned the Mercyhurst’s women’s hockey program into one of Division I’s premier powers. His teams have won 410 games, second only to Harvard’s Katey Stone among active Division I coaches. The Lakers have captured 15 straight conference titles, and made 10 consecutive trips to the national tournament – an NCAA record – before the streak was halted last season.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“Obviously, it is a great honor to sign on for another five years,” Sisti said in a statement. “I started this program from scratch and have passed on a lot opportunities because I believe so much in it. I am happy and honored to know that I am going to be in a position to continue to grow this program and to work with the great people at Mercyhurst, especially all my players and coaches, past and present.”<\/p>\n
The women’s team annually donates over 200 hours on various community service projects and spends time at several local schools instructing students on life skills.<\/p>\n
Likewise, players from the men’s side volunteer their time in support of numerous local organizations. <\/p>\n
The Lakers also perform at the annual show of the Gliding Stars of Erie, an organization that helps disabled kids learn how to skate. In addition, the team raised approximately $2,000 for the Mental Health Association of NW PA as a result of last year’s inaugural Snowtown Throwdown vs. Ohio State at the Erie Insurance Arena, and an estimated $20,000 during the last three years in support of Movember, a movement to create awareness and raise funds for men’s cancers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mercyhurst men’s head coach Rick Gotkin and women’s coach Michael Sisti have each signed four-year contract extensions through the 2019-2020 season. “Clearly, Rick and Mike have built a championship culture at Mercyhurst and we are thrilled to have them continue their leadership of our Division I hockey programs for the next five years,” Mercyhurst president […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n