Gotkin Nets Milestone As Winningest Coach' Men's Hockey Coach Rick Gotkin Be- Something Like This Alone
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Weekly news from Mercyhurst College Vol. 21, No. 13 January 12, 2004 Mercyhurst Hockey Rules! Gotkin Nets Milestone As Winningest Coach' Men's hockey coach Rick Gotkin be- something like this alone. You get here because of came the winningest coach in Mercyhurst great assistant coaches, great players, the support College history Jan. 9, 2004, a date that of the administration, the people in financial aid, will forever stick in his mind. the guys in maintenance, the fans...they're all part Gotkin achieved the milestone when of the program." the Lakers recorded a 2-1 victory over Assistant hockey coach Chris Herbolsheimer Bentley last Friday night in the Mercyhurst '98, who played for Gotkin and now coaches with Ice Center, giving him 286 career wins at him, said, "Rick is a phenomenal guy to work for the 'Hurst, surpassing the previous record and I'm sure this is exciting for him, but he's not of 285 wins held by former Mercyhurst one to draw attention to it." head baseball coach Joe Jordano. Senior and team captain Nolan Brown said A consummate competitor who knows Gotkin "is a players' coach. He likes to know what's the exhilaration that comes with winning, Gotkin is going on with the guys and he cares about them, It's a neat in his 16lh year as men's hockey coach, making his which makes him easy to play for." little accom- tenure the longest of any Mercyhurst head coach, Gotkin, whose team is playing its first year in the past or present. new Atlantic Hockey league, is credited with build- plishment, As thrilling as it is, the pinnacle is one Gotkin ing a varsity program that has brought the college but it's not accepts with a modicum of fanfare and a huge help- national recognition, while overseeing its transfor- solely mine. ing of humility. mation from Division III to Division II (1993) to "It's a neat little accomplishment, but it's not Division I (1999) status. - Gotkin solely mine," he said. "I don't think anyone does (cont on page 3) Sisti Claims 100th Career Win On Home Ice Women's hockey coach Mike Sisti recorded his Sisti views his 100lh career lh " This achieve- 100 career win Jan. 3 as the Lakers edged visiting win in four-and-a-half years Yale 3-2 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The women as "remarkable when you con- ment should have a 15-2-3 record as of Jan. 10 and a 101-40-8 sider the level of competition be shared by mark in four-plus years. we are playing against and all of our past Sisti began Mercyhurst's Division I program the prestige of the schools we from scratch in 1999, switching from associate head play." And, he noted, "This and present coach of the men's varsity hockey team to women's achievement should be shared players and head coach. Charged with the task of building a by all of our past and present staff members." Division I women's program and to make it compet- players and staff members. itive as soon as possible, Sisti has done just that. Everyone has helped achieve The Lakers finished 23- 6 in their opening season, this record in their own way." Mike Sisti 14-16-3 with an upgraded schedule in 2000-01, Sisti's teams have won three regular season -1 in 2001-02, and 25-8-1 in 2002-03 conference championships, two in the Great Lakes ainst some of the best Division I competition Women's Hockey Association (GLWHA) and last in the country. season in College Hockey America (CHA). He guid- Even with the loss of 12 graduating seniors ed Mercyhurst to GLWHA and CHA playoff champi- this season, 11 of the original talent recruited, onships the last two years and a Division I top 10 Sisti's team has gone on to sustain success. (cont. on page 3) Andy Curtze Students Seek Change POT???• • ? Heads South Through Outreach • • • • • Who's going to miss A group of Mercyhurst Andy Curtze or, more students, led by service Did You fittingly, who isn't? learning director Sister Andy is one guy who Michele Marie Schroeck, has earned high marks RSM,'88, joined 10,000 Know? from everyone on campus activists nationwide in a Back in the days of since he started at the protest rally at the Western DocuCenter two-and-a-half Hemisphere Institute for Mercyhurst's coeduca- years ago while simultane- Security Cooperation (for- tional transition, a group ously pursuing his master's merly known as the School in administration of justice. of the Americas) in Fort of young men lived in Andy Curtze Now it's time to move on. Sister Michele Benning, Ga., Nov. 21-24. what some nicknamed Since graduating last spring, Andy has patient- Protestors charge graduates of WHISC, a com- // The Penthouse," which ly waited for "just the right job," and, finally, it's bat-training school for Latin American soldiers, are here. He's off to the Fairfax County, Va., Police responsible for some of the worst human rights comprised five rooms in Department, where he will assume his post as a abuses in Latin America. WHISC advocates insist the tower of Old Main. police officer Jan. 26. Friday marks his last day that changes have been made to rectify past prob- on the Hill. lems and that the school is an indispensable tool Some of those early for training legitimate governments to defend "I realized while I was at Mercyhurst that what tower dwellers are still themselves. I really wanted to focus on was police work, and I here, but in altogether just waited until the right job came along," he said. "Being with our Mercyhurst students as they As he prepares to trade his behind-the-counter chanted and freely and peacefully expressed their different quarters. They job in the DocuCenter for the streets of Fairfax call for justice and change really struck me," Sister include Tom Billingsley, County, he does so with eagerness and thanks- Michele said. giving. Also during the recent holiday season, another Gary Bukowski and Allan "This is a great opportunity for me," he said. "It's group of Mercyhurst students learned about a dif- Belovarac. a huge police department so I'll be getting a lot of ferent way of life and shared a moving experience training and experience. But, I'll miss Mercyhurst. in working with the people of a Third World coun- Everyone has been so nice and supportive of me." try when they traveled to Honduras for the annual Among his well-wishers are co-workers Donna Campus Ministry and Mercy Institute mission out- Malzewski and Brigitte Kucharski. reach trip Nov. 20-26. " I I feel like I'm losing my son," said Malzewski. Accompanying the students were Dr. Mary //lIt' s going to be a sad day," added Kucharski. Hembrow Snyder and Cass Shimek. The group "We're proud of Andy, but we'll miss him very rendezvoused with Sister Kathleen Marie Leap, much." RSM, '62, who spent fall term on sabbatical in Honduras. (See "Happenings") Happenings on the Hill - Nygaard Series Resumes Mercyhurst Civic Institute Senior Fellow Richard L Nygaard, Mercy Institute director Sister Kathleen Marie Leap, RSM, United States Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third '62, is back at Mercyhurst following a two-month sabbatical in Circuit, will provide the third installment of his speaker's series Honduras, but she made it abundantly clear she would return at Mercyhurst on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Walker Recital Hall. "in a heartbeat." Already, she said, "I miss Nygaard will address "The Eighth Amendment: Is Anything the simplicity of life." Plus, she was inspired Cruel and Unusual?" He will highlight the history of punish- by "the faith that is so much a part of the ment, emphasizing capital punishment, the philosophy of culture there." Previously, Sister had made punishment, and contemporary prison sentences. The lecture the annual weeklong Thanksgiving mission is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Civic trip to Honduras offered by the college and, Institute and Erie County Criminal Justice Coalition. indeed, met up with this year's entourage. Dianne Rogers, director of the learning differences program, But, she opted to spend a longer period of is the lucky winner of a handmade quilt crafted by Mercyhurst time there so as to be immersed in the student Dodi Hammond. Hammond donated the quilt to the culture and daily life of the Third World college as a way of raising money for the poor during the Sister Kathleen country. "I learned from the people and, holiday season. Campus Ministry director Sister Geri hopefully, they from me," said Sister, who Rosinski, RSM, said her work-study students sold raffle lived with Sisters of Mercy and shared their ministry in San tickets for the quilt and used the proceeds to purchase gift Pedro Sula. She also worked in a very poor sector of the city, certificates from area grocery stores. (cont on page 3) Applause! Winningest Coach... • Dr. Brian Reed, assistant professor of English, (from page 1) presented a paper, "Wright Turns the Bible Left: Gotkin directed the Lakers to a third suc- Rewriting the Parable in Uncle Tom's Children," cessive regular season championship in the at the South Atlantic Modern Language Associ- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) ation Conference in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 14. Hockey League in the 2002-03 season. Mercy- Reed's presentation was part of a special session hurst then reached the NCAA Division I Tour- on African-American literature and faith.