ERIE, Pa. – Head coach Michael Sisti of the Mercyhurst University women's hockey team is pleased to announce the addition of ten student-athletes who will continue their playing careers at Mercyhurst beginning in the 2015-16 season.
 
"Louis (Goulet) and Delaney (Collins) did a tremendous job helping to assemble this extremely talented group of outstanding student-athletes," said Sisti, who just completed his 16th season as the head coach of the Lakers. He sports an overall record of 410-117-37. "We are excited to have them join our proud tradition of excellence and we are already looking forward to next season."

The ten individuals will offset the loss of four players who finished their collegiate careers this past March – forward Shelby Bram, defensemen Molly Byrne and Caroline Luczak, and goaltender Amanda Makela. With the addition of ten newcomers, it will also provide the program with more depth than it has had in recent history.

Of the ten, four are forwards (Lea Boreland, Jaycee Gebhard, Sarah Hine, and Rachael Smith), four are defensemen (Molly Blasen, Nicole Collier, Samantha Fieseler, and Morgan Stacey), and two are goaltenders (Sarah McDonnell and Kerri St. Denis).

Gebhard, a native of Plenty, Saskatchewan, played for the Notre Dame Hounds in the Junior Women's Hockey League. Gebhard scored 25 goals and added 16 assists for 41 points to earn the league's scoring trophy in 2012-13. She was asst captain for the Silver Medal Winning Canadian U18 National Team. Last season, Gebhard tallied 19 goals and 23 assists in just 24 games to finish third in the league's scoring race. During her career, she has been named the Midget AAA Rookie of the Year and the JWHL Player of the Year.

Gebhard also participated in the 2014 IIHF Women's High Performance Camp for Team Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team in Vierumäki, Finland.

Boreland, a native of Novi, Michigan, most recently played for Honeybaked in the High Performance Hockey League. She was a participant in the 2014 USA Hockey Girls Select U18 Player Development Camp. She tallied three goals and three assists in five games for Honeybaked during the 2015 U19 Challenge Cup. Boreland also competed at the 2014 USA Hockey National Championships in the Tier I Girls 19U Division where she had a goal and an assist in five games.

Hine, a native of Hamilton, Ontario, played for the Stoney Creek Sabres in the Provincial Women's Hockey League where she helped lead the team to several tournament championships. She scored ten points in ten playoff games to lead the Sabres to the 2015 PWHL Championship. During the regular season, Hine tallied nine goals and eleven assists for twenty points in 33 games. She scored a career-high 25 points during the 2013-14 season.

Hine was selected to participate in Team Canada's National Women's Under-18 Selection Camp in December of 2014.  She was a member of Team Ontario at the 2015 Canada Winter Games.

The last of the forwards, Smith, a native of Stoney Creek, Ontario, joined Hine in playing for the Stoney Creek Sabres in the Provincial Women's Hockey League. Smith scored 22 goals and added 15 assists for 37 points during the regular season and then scored nine goals and five assists in ten playoff games to help lead the Sabres to the 2015 PWHL Championship.

Smith was a Team Canada National Women's Under-18 Selection Camp participant and played for Team Ontario Red during the 2015 Canada Winter Games. She tallied three points in six contests.

The first of the incoming defensemen, Blasen, a native of Okemos, Michigan, joined Boreland in playing for Honeybaked in the High Performance Hockey League. She scored five points in five games during the 2015 U19 Challenge Cup. Blasen also competed at the 2014 USA Hockey National Championships in the Tier I Girls 19U Division where she had an assist in five games.

Collier, a native of Oakville, Ontario, played with Hine and Smith for the Stoney Creek Sabres in the Provincial Women's Hockey League. She scored 19 points in 73 career games with the Sabres and helped lead the team to the 2015 PWHL Championship. Collier was also a member of the inaugural Canadian Junior Women's National Team to compete at the FIRS Inline Hockey World Championships in July of 2013.

Collier was the youngest-ever player (14 years old) to suit up for the National Inline Senior Women's Hockey Team at the 2012 World Championships in Colombia, helping Canada to gold.

Fieseler, a native of West Kelowna, British Columbia, was a top defensemen for Pursuit of Excellence - the same team that former Laker great, Christine Bestland, played for before coming to Mercyhurst. Fieseler was a member of Canada's Gold Medal-winning 2014 National Under-18 Team in Hungary. She also played for Team BC in the 2013 National Women's Under-18 Championship and represented Canada at the 2012 IIHF Women's High Performance Camp in Vierumäki, Finland.

Stacey, a native of Commerce Township, Michigan, played with Boreland and Blasen for Honeybaked in the High Performance Hockey League. She scored two points in five games during the 2015 U19 Challenge Cup. She was a member of the 2011, 2013, and 2014 Michigan State Championship teams and has been invited to four separate USA Hockey national camps.

Stacey was also a three-time recipient of the HPHL Academic Excellence Award.

The first of the two incoming goaltenders, McDonnell, a native of Oakville, Ontario, is the fourth member to join the 2015-16 Laker squad who previously played for the Stoney Creek Sabres in the Provincial Women's Hockey League. She went 16-1-4 with a 1.03 goals against average and a .936 save percentage during the 2014-15 regular season and then posted a remarkable 7-0 record with a 0.41 goals against average and a .973 save percentage during the Sabres' PWHL Championship run.

McDonnell attended the 2014 Hockey Canada Strength and Conditioning Camp and was a 2013 National Women's Under-18 Silver Medalist with Team Ontario Blue. She was a four-time Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA) Provincial Medalist and a four-time Lower Lakes Female Hockey League (LLFHL) Medalist.  She was a Member of Team Ontario at the 2015 Canada Winter Games.

The final newcomer, St. Denis, a native of Auburn, Maine, joins the Lakers after playing for St. Paul's School. She led the U.S. Hockey Report for Prep Girls with a .963 save percentage during the 2014-15 season while posting a 1.07 goals against average. St. Denis had a .937 save percentage in 2013-14 and a .946 save percentage in 2012-13. In 2013-14 and 2014-15, was named to the American Family Insurance All-USA Girls Hockey Team.

St. Denis was instrumental in leading her team to the NEPSAC Division I Championship in 2015, making 28 saves to help SPS earn the New England title. The co-captain was impressive throughout the Big Red's three-game run through the tournament, stopping 88 of the 90 shots she faced

St. Denis was also named Hockey Night in Boston's Top Goaltender three times after leading TeamONE to Hockey Night in Boston Girls Championship in 2013, 2014, and 2015. She also helped lead Assabet Valley to a State Championship in 2015 and the USA Hockey Tier I National Championship in 2012.

Sisti and the Lakers posted their 14th consecutive 20-win season in 2014-15 after going 23-9-3. Mercyhurst won its 15th consecutive conference regular season championship last season – the last 13 in College Hockey America. However, the Lakers were bounced in the CHA semifinals by Rochester Institute of Technology, marking the first time that the Lakers did not play in the conference championship game. As a result, Mercyhurst missed out on making the Division I NCAA National Championship Tournament for the first time since 2004-05, snapping an NCAA-record streak of ten consecutive appearances.