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The 30th year of Mercyhurst College football team proved to be the best in school history, as the Lakers won its first-ever conference championship (a 56-37 win over Bloomsburg), made a trip to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time, and broke the school record for wins in a season with 10. Mercyhurst is hoping to put two consecutive winning seasons together for the first time since 1991 (5-4-0) and 1992 (5-4-1) under head coach Jim Chapman, and the work and preparation is set to begin on Thursday, August 11.

The Lakers will hold 22 preseason practices beginning Thursday before the week of preparation leading up to the season opener against Notre Dame College at Tullio Field on Saturday, September 3. Included in the preseason practice schedule are five two-a-days, beginning with the first one on Tuesday, August 16.

All practices are open to the public and will be held at Mercyhurst's Tullio Field.

Head coach Marty Schaetzle enters his 10th season at the helm of the Laker football program. He became the longest-tenured coach in school history, surpassing current Director of Athletics Joe Kimball. Last season, he also became the winningest coach in school history, picking up his 42nd career win in the NCAA Second Round victory over Bloomsburg. He passed Kimball and the first-ever head coach Tony DeMeo in the record books.

The 2011 edition of the football team welcomes back 10 starters on offense, but just four on the defensive side of the ball. The only starter lost on offense is Gerald Anderson, who set the single-season rushing record at Mercyhurst last season. Mercyhurst does, however, welcome back PSAC West Offensive Player Of The Year, wide receiver Trevor Kennedy, and three PSAC West Second Team selections - wide receiver Terrence Coon, offensive lineman Kevin Poropat, and quarterback Travis Rearick.

On defense, the Lakers do return the PSAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and All-PSAC West First Team member, Ian Wild. Defensively, Mercyhurst also returns defensive back Bryant Kimball, defensive end Dan Kruper, and linebacker Kevin Williams - all of whom made significant contributions last season as starters.

2011 Mercyhurst Football Preseason Practice Schedule
Thursday, August 11 - 1 p.m.
Friday, August 12 - 1 p.m.
Saturday, August 13 - 1 p.m.
Sunday, August 14 - 1 p.m.
Monday, August 15 - 1 p.m.
Tuesday, August 16 - 9:30 a.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Wednesday, August 17 - 1 p.m.
Thursday, August 18 - 9:30 a.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Friday, August 19 - 1 p.m.
Saturday, August 20 - 9:30 a.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Sunday, August 21 - 1 p.m.
Monday, August 22 - 9:30 a.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Tuesday, August 23 - 1 p.m.
Wednesday, August 24 - 9:30 a.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Thursday, August 25 - 1 p.m.
Friday, August 26 - 1 p.m.
Saturday, August 27 - 9:30 a.m.

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Mercyhurst has released the 2011-12 women’s basketball schedule. The Lady Lakers will host 13 home games and travel to Michigan for two contests to begin the season.

Hurst heads to Midland, Mich., to play in the Northwood University Tournament on November 11-12. The Lakers will face Northwood and Lake Superior State, two former Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes.

This season marks the start of a new scheduling format in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), as teams will play each member of the opposing division once a season. Mercyhurst will travel to Millersville and West Chester November 19-20 before hosting Kutztown and East Stroudsburg December 3-4. The weekend of December 9-10 features a trip to Mansfield and defending Eastern Divison champion Bloomsburg.

Hurst hosts two non-PSAC contests against West Virginia Wesleyan and Notre Dame (OH) College December 14 and 30, respectively, before wrapping up the East portion of their campaign with home games against Shippensburg and Cheyney January 6-7.

The Lakers open PSAC West action on January 11 at Clarion before hosting three straight conference games against Slippery Rock, Gannon, and Indiana (Pa.). Hurst hits the road to face Edinboro and California (Pa.) January 25 and 28, respectively. Mercyhurst faces Lock Haven at home on February 1, ending the first round of West play. From there, Coach Deanna Richard’s squad plays the other seven teams in the division once more, concluding at Lock Haven February 25. All told, Hurst faces five different teams that won 20 or more games a year ago.

The Lakers went 15-15 last season, marking their fourth consecutive season of improvement under Richard. The team loses graduated seniors Amy Achesinski and Samantha Loadman this season, but this year’s group features four seniors and six juniors.

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But the Lakers still have quite a bit returning, led by seniors Bailey Bram, Kelley Steadman, Jess Jones, and the 2011-12 captain Pam Zgoda, as well as sophomore Christine Bestland, who finished fourth in the country in points by a freshman with 42. Mercyhurst also returns two of its three goaltenders from a year ago including starter, senior Hillary Pattenden and key backup, junior Stephanie Ciampa. 

Mercyhurst opens the season on September 17 with an exhibition tilt against Wilfrid Laurier at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. Faceoff for that game is slated for 4:00 p.m. After the opener, the Lakers will play two additional exhibition contests the following weekend, the 24^th and 25^th, against Stoney Creek and the Toronto Aeros respectively.

After the trio of exhibition games, the Lakers will open the regular season on Homecoming weekend at the ice center against the Bobcats of Quinnipiac University on September 30 and October 1. Following that, Mercyhurst will take to the road for six consecutive games, beginning with a trip to Mankato, Minnesota on October 7 and 8. After taking on the Mavericks, the Lakers will be at Providence on October 15 and 16, and then at Division I newcomer, Lindenwood University on October 28 and 29.

Following six straight road matchups, Mercyhurst will play seven straight at home, beginning with their final exhibition game of the season against Brampton of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League on November 2. After a few days off, the Lakers will play four games in six days starting with a pair against Yale on November 18 and 19, and then a Tuesday-Wednesday series to start the Thanksgiving holiday against St. Lawrence. Mercyhurst will then wrap up seven straight games at the Ice Center with a pair against Cornell on December 2 and 3. Cornell has made consecutive trips to the Frozen Four the past two seasons, advancing to the title game two years ago, before being knocked out in the semis last year in Erie against Boston University.

The Lakers will then travel to Boston College on December 9 and 10 before returning home to the Ice Center to take on Lindenwood on December 14 and 15, wrapping up the pre-new year schedule. Boston College made a trip to the Frozen Four last season in Erie, losing to eventual National Champion Wisconsin in the semifinals.

Following the holidays, all but one regular season game will be a league contest. With Wayne State dropping its women’s program earlier this summer, the Lakers have just three conference foes left – Syracuse, Robert Morris, and Niagara – playing each team four times. 

The Lakers will open the 2012 portion with a pair at Syracuse on January 6 and 7, and then will play home-and-home weekends with Niagara and Robert Morris the following two weekends. After a week off, the Lakers will again have a home-and-home series with Niagara on February 3 and 4, and then will travel to Ithaca, New York for their final non-conference game of the season at Cornell on February 7. 

Mercyhurst will close out the regular season with home games against Syracuse on February 10 and 11 and then a home-and-home series against Robert Morris on the 17^th and 18^th.

 The four-team College Hockey America playoffs will take place at Robert Morris University this year, with playoff games on the 2^nd and 3^rd of March.