Erie, PA—There was only been one NCAA Division I Women's Hockey Head Coach to reach 500 career wins, until yesterday. Mercyhurst Women's Hockey Head Coach Michael Sisti joined Wisconsin Head Coach Mark Johnson as the only two coaches in Division I Women's Hockey to reach 500 wins. Sisti is also only the 30th coach in College Hockey history to reach the 500 win mark.
On Friday, the Lakers completed the two-game sweep of the RIT Tigers which were win number 499 and 500. The Lakers won on Thursday 2-1 with Sara Boucher scoring her first two goals as a Laker, the Lakers got Sisti win 500 winning 5-1 Friday against the Tigers.
Sisti began his coaching career at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY after completing his playing career with the Griffins. After three years as an assistant coach with Canisius, Sisti came to Erie and joined the Mercyhurst men's hockey coaching staff. While on the coaching staff the Mercyhurst men's team, he helped lead them to 102 wins over his six seasons with the program. In March of 1999, Sisti was named the first Head Coach in Mercyhurst Women's program history.
Sisti now in his 22nd season has successfully turned a small-college women's hockey program into a premier Division I program. Since starting the women's program at Mercyhurst, the Lakers have captured 17 regular season conference championships including 15 Conference Championships. Mercyhurst has also appeared in 13 NCAA Tournaments, four Frozen Fours that also includes being the 2009 Runner-Up.
Sisti has been a huge part of the success on the ice for the Lakers but also off the ice, under Sisti the team's cumulative grade point average has been about a 3.0 for 18 straight years. The Lakers have also been very active in the Erie community by spending at least 200 hours a season working with the community of service projects along with spending time at local schools.
Sisti has also earned national attention multiple times by being named Division I Coach of the Year in 2005, along with being named USCHO.com Coach of the Year in 2007. Sisti has been named a finalist for Division 1 Coach of the Year on six different occasions. Sisti has also earned the respect of his peers in the College Hockey America by being named CHA Coach of the Year eight times, most recently in the 2019-20 in which the Lakers went 21-10-5 on their way to a Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament Appearance.
