Erie, PA - The Mercyhurst Women's Ice Hockey team announced its captains for the 2024-25 season. Vanessa Upson (Senior - Forward) will be leading the team as the Laker captain, with Sydney Pedersen (Senior - Defense), Mary Kromer (Graduate Student - Forward), and Megan McKay (Junior - Defense) serving as assistant captains.
Upson, who was the national rookie of the year in 2021-22, is coming off a 37 point season while acting as an assistant captain for the Lakers for the second time. She was second on the team in goals with 17, and for the second time in her career she was able to reach 20 assists in a season. Vanessa has grown as a playmaker in her time with the Lakers, which helped to lead linemate Sofia Nuutinen to a 34 point freshman campaign. In her career, Upson's split is dead even with 52 goals and 52 assists over 110 games. She has amassed a large resume in terms of end of season awards, including CHA First-Team, Second-Team, Rookie-Team, and even the conference Individual Sportsmanship Awards at the end of last season.
Coach Sisti has very high hopes about his captain,
"We are very fortunate to have a team with great leaders and chemistry. Vanessa Upson was named Captain after 2 seasons as Assistant Captain. It has been fun watching her grow and mature on and off the ice. She has put together a fantastic resume as a student-athlete and we know she will do a great job as Captain."
Pedersen, who led the defense in assists during all of her years, will wear a letter on her jersey for the first time as a Laker. Sydney has taken on a leadership role on and off the ice since her freshman season, when she turned in an impressive 17 points from the blue line. Last season, the Saskatchewan native won the Molly Byrne Award (Best Defenseman) thanks to being the current conference leader in defensemen scoring with 68 career points. Pedersen also was awarded a spot on the All-CHA First Team last season, and in prior years, took home Second Team and Rookie Team honors.
Kromer enters her graduate year with Mercyhurst, and will wear the 'A' on her sweater for the second consecutive year. Mary and Chantal Ste-Croix are the longest tenured Lakers, being with the team since the 2020-21 season. Over her career, she has appeared in over 100 games, with last season being the first time she has seen shifts both as a forward and a defenseman.
McKay, who has turned in a pair of impressive defensive seasons for the Lakers, will round out the assistant captains for Mercyhurst this season. The Zionsville native has appeared in 75 games in her first two years with the Lakers, and has cemented herself as a force of nature from the blue line. Her 31 career points pair well with over 100
career blocks, proving she can get it done on both ends of the rink. In her first year, she was a part of the CHA All-Rookie Team, and now as a junior will continue to lead the team on the ice and especially in the weight room, where McKay excels.
Coach Sisti has also appointed a trio of Lakers to be class leaders. Thea Johansson (Junior - Forward), Sofia Ljung (Sophomore - Defense), and Ashley Mandeville (Freshman - Defense) will represent the team on that front. Coach Sisti said the following about this year's leadership group,
"Meg [McKay], Mary [Kromer], and Syd [Pedersen] will work well with Uppy [Upson] to lead our team throughout the season. Their work ethic and desire to succeed is commendable. We believe Thea [Johansson], Sofia [Ljung], and Ashley [Mandeville] add great insight to our leadership group. We like to have a good pulse on our team's thoughts and views throughout the year and this group can give us quality feedback and help us make key decisions during the season."
Home Opener:
The Lakers start their season a week from Friday, on September 27th against Colgate at 7:00. Before that they have one pre-season exhibition against the new captain's former juniors team, The Stoney Creek Sabers, this Saturday night at 6:00 in the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Fellow players Chantal Ste-Croix, Mary Kromer, and Henlee Mahoney all played for the Sabers as well.
