Mercyhurst Headed To Face Swedish National Team

Mercyhurst University will get an early start to their NCAA year travelling to Stockholm to face Sweden's national team and development team.

The Mercyhurst University women's hockey team is headed across the Atlantic to play games against Sweden's senior national team and development team.

Mercyhurst is welcoming an incoming recruiting class featuring players from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, who will all join the Lakers roster on this trip.

“This will be an amazing educational, cultural, and physically challenging experience for our team,” said head coach Mike Sisti in a news release. “It will be a great opportunity to exchange ideas and showcase women’s hockey. We are very excited that we were able to pull everything together for this trip to Sweden. I appreciate Sweden national team head coach Ulf Lundberg and his staff for inviting us to this unique event.”

“We are really looking forward to welcoming Mercyhurst University to Stockholm in the end of July,” said Lundberg. “I liked their environment and their program a lot when I was over there in January. And I am sure the exchange will be a win-win both hockey wise and in the bigger picture.”

Last season Thea Johansson, who has represented Sweden at the U-18 and senior World Championships and Norwegian national team member Ena Nystrøm were members of Mercyhurst's roster. This season they'll be joined by Sweden's Sofia Ljung, who was a member of Sweden's U-18 national team, as well as Finland's Sofia Nuutinen and Emmi Mouruarjvi, and Denmark's Sofia Skriver.

Along with playing games against Sweden's national program in Stockholm, the program will also look to build connections, grow the game, and provide players with a cultural experience.

“This year will be our 25th season and this will be a terrific way to get it started," said Sisti. "I am looking forward to seeing how we can share information and find beneficial ways to have both sides improve our systems moving forward. It is fantastic to see the support and enthusiasm our entire Mercyhurst administration has for this endeavor.”

Mercyhurst will travel to Sweden from July 22 to July 31, 2023.