From The Daily Telegram
By Kristopher Lodes
ADRIAN — Siena Heights University announced Thursday evening plans to begin a men’s and women’s ice hockey program starting next season.
The announcement comes off the heels of fellow WHAC member Concordia Ann Arbor announcing it will cease athletics following the 2024-25 school year, giving SHU the opportunity to create a transfer of hockey operations.
“We have an agreement to hire the Concordia University coaching staff,” SHU president Douglas Palmer wrote in an e-mail. “Thanks to our provost, Dr. Gina Rossetti, we have an articulation agreement in progress to facilitate transfer of Concordia hockey student-athletes, and any other Concordia students, to Siena Heights.”
SHU believes adding two new varsity programs will add revenue to the school, increase enrollment and excite students and local Saints fans.
“After clear and thoughtful analysis, spearheaded by vice president of athletics Sue Syljebeck, it’s clear that adding these two sports will yield positive net revenue for the university while providing Saints Nation another opportunity to support this exciting and popular sport,” Palmer said in the e-mail.
The Saints home facilities will be off-site while the university explores partnerships to potentially create a site somewhere in Lenawee County.
Currently the only ice arena in Lenawee belongs to Adrian College. Arrington Ice Arena already hosts NCAA Division III men’s and women’s hockey along with five men’s and women’s club hockey teams along with women’s figure skating and synchronized skating. Along with the AC athletics, Arrington also has skating opportunities for the community and hosts the Lenawee County varsity hockey program a few times a season.
The current home for Concordia Ann Arbor is Artic Edge in Canton.
The Cardinals have begun their seventh and final season in men’s hockey and are 2-9-1 so far this year and were 13-16-3 a season ago. All-time CUAA is 62-123-9 and is led by second-year head coach Trevor Sattelmeier, who has been with the Cardinals since the start of the program as an assistant for the first five seasons.
Sattelmeier played collegiately at Wayne State University before becoming a goaltending and assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University and has also worked with the USA Hockey Coaching Education Program since 2012. He also serves as goaltending director and house hockey director for Sylvania Youth Hockey Association in Ohio.
The men’s program competes in the WHAC along with Indiana Tech, Michigan Dearborn, Lawrence Tech, Cleary, Aquinas and Rochester Christian.
The women’s program is also into its’ seventh season and is 0-4 to start the season after going 10-14 a season ago. All-time the Cardinals are 23-92-1 is led by Maria Barlow, who has been the program’s only head coach.
Barlow was the goaltending coach at Michigan State University prior to leading CUAA and she herself was the goalie for the Spartans in her playing days, winning a conference and tournament championship. She also represented Team USA at the 2015 World University Games.
The WHAC does not have enough schools to have women’s ice hockey as a sanctioned sport. The Cardinals compete at the Division I ACHA level and plays in the CCWHA, the same league as Adrian’s Division I ACHA program.
Exactly one year ago Friday Siena Heights announced the addition of women’s flag football and in the past few years SHU has added men’s and women’s wrestling and e-sports.
Similarly, in the last decade, crosstown school Adrian College has added men’s and women’s wrestling, rowing, bass fishing, men’s and women’s rugby, e-sports and cornhole and has successfully seen enrollment growth.
(Originally published at https://www.lenconnect.com/story/sports/college/2024/11/01/siena-heights-adding-mens-and-womens-ice-hockey/75984657007/)
