BOSTON- The AHA released the coaches’ preseason rankings for women’s ice hockey. Mercyhurst was picked to finish second this season and received one first place vote. 

The Lakers finished last season with an overall record of 20-16-2 and a conference record of 13-6-1. They reached the conference championship for the fourth consecutive season, falling to Penn State 4-1. 

Penn State was picked first in the poll with six first place votes. The Nittany Lions have won the last three conference championships, and this is the fifth consecutive season the coaches have put them at number one. 

RIT was picked third and Syracuse was ranked fourth after semifinal appearances from both teams last season. 

The bottom half of the poll features Robert Morris in fifth and Lindenwood in sixth. Coming in last is Delaware, who will play in their first season in the AHA after becoming the 45th women’s ice hockey program in the country. 

Julia Schalin was one of three forwards selected to the All-AHA Preseason Team. Schalin received the most votes (6) alongside Penn State’s Tessa Janecke. The native of Espoo, Finland was recently training with the Finland national team ahead of the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. 

Last season, Schalin led all AHA rookies with 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points and was named the AHA Rookie of the Year. 

Makayla Javier was another Laker who received votes for the AHA defensemen. Javier enters her senior year after scoring seven goals and adding 10 assists for 17 points as well as leading the team in blocked shots with 79.  

The Lakers graduated eight seniors last season. This includes Vanessa Upon who finished her collegiate career with 65 goals and 82 assists for 147 points. Upson was recently the 38th pick in the PWHL draft, selected by the Minnesota Frost.

Returning to Mercyhurst’s squad is Sofia Nuutinen who was recently training with Schalin and the Finland national team. Nuutinen has been a key player for the team, earning CHA and USCHO All-Rookie Honors. She currently has 69 points in just two seasons. 

The Mercyhurst Ice Center will see several new skaters this year, including 10 freshmen and four transfers. 

Payten Evans, Sophie McKinley, and Abby Poitras all transferred in from Merrimack. Evans brings three years of experience to the blue line with 16 career points and over 100 blocked shots. Poitras also featured on Merrimack’s defense last season where she scored five goals and added six assists for 11 points. She also led the team in blocked shots with 60. Mckinley brings three years of experience at forward, with career tallies of 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points. 

Graduate student Jessica Ciarrocchi brings veteran experience from Brown and Penn State where she has skated in over 100 games and totaled 25 points. 

Tara Bach (Germany U18), Maja Alenius (Sweden U18), and Nayeon Kim (South Korea) are three freshmen who have trained with their national teams ahead of the new season. 

The Lakers will kick off their season Friday, Sept. 19 at home against Minnesota Duluth.