Mercyhurst Lakers women's ice hockey  The Mercyhurst Lakers women's ice hockey team is the hockey team that represents the Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania. The program started in 1999 and Michael Sisti has been the only coach in the history of the program. From 2000 to 2002, the Lakers were part of the Great Lakes Women's Hockey Association. While in the Great Lakes Women's Hockey Association, the Lakers qualified for the GLWHA tournament twice (in 2001, and 2002). The Lakers were regular season champions in 2000–01 and 2001–02, and won the playoff championships in 2002. For the 2002–03 season, the Lakers joined the College Hockey America conference. "Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties"  1999 to 2002: Great Lakes Women's Hockey Association  The Mercyhurst women's hockey program predates NCAA governance in the sport. The Great Lakes Women's Hockey Association was formed by Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, when the Title IX law protecting equity in sports was making major changes to women's athletics. A Mercyhurst Men's Assistant Coach since 1993, Michael Sisti, was named the inaugural head coach. As of the end of the 2019–20 season, he remains the only head coach in the program's history. Sisti had been a star forward for Canisius College, where he graduated in 1990. Mercyhurst was immediately successful in the GLWHA. They were 23-6-0 in 1999–00. Most of their games were shutout wins, and scored 10 or more goals on six occasions. In 2000-01 they were far less successful, going 14-16-3, playing more established programs. In 2001–02, they saw great success again, with a 24-8-1 record, and the final GLWHA Championship. College Hockey America through 2005-06  As the NCAA became the primary governing body of women's hockey, the conferences began to merge with existing men's conferences. The Mercyhurst men were part of the Metro Atlantic Conference, while Findlay and Wayne States' mens programs were in College Hockey America, which began organizing as a women's conference as well. The new CHA women's conference included Mercyhust, Findlay and Wayne State from the GLWHA, and Niagara University. In the first four years of the conference, Mercyhurst dominated the competition.