In the fall of 1999, local female hockey products C.J. Ireland and K.C. Gallo joined the Mercyhurst Lakers at the very infancy of their NCAA program. In fact, the team competed in club play during the 1999-2000 campaign, officially participating in conference action the next year.

Smooth skating Sudbury forward Sadie Frantz will connect with a vastly different Mercyhurst Lakers program in the fall of 2028, with the Erie (Pennsylvania) based institution now having claimed no less than 13 CHA (College Hockey America) banners before merging into the newly formed Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) conference in 2024.

Mercyhurst have been beaten in the conference final by the Penn State Nittany Lions in each of the last four years and Frantz, for one, would very much like to rewrite that script - if it has not already been rewritten in the next two years, prior to her arrival.

"There were a lot of things that stood out to me about Mercyhurst," noted Frantz, a key component with Sudbury Lady Wolves rep teams for years prior to joining the Barrie Jr Sharks of the OWHL (Ontario Women's Hockey Association) U22 Elite league last fall.

"With the coaching staff, I felt that there was a personable connection there," said Frantz. "I liked the direction and culture of the program. I could see myself developing there, becoming a better player and a better person."

An impressive point producer throughout her minor hockey career, Frantz stands out perhaps more than most because of the level of attention to detail that she commits to her all-around game.

"I am a student of the game and I think about the game a lot away from the rink," she said. "As the game gets faster and the competition becomes more difficult, you have to adapt mentally, think about hockey more in order to prepare."

"I'm a two-way centerman who is pretty responsible defensively," Frantz added. "My speed has always been a big factor in my game; I always play with a lot of pace, a lot of jump."

In her first year of junior hockey, Frantz would register 11 goals and 16 assists in 48 games, a very nice starting point as she looks to help lead the Jr Sharks to a deep playoff run in each of the next two years.

"It's a very fast pace league, but I thought that I adapted well," she said. "Overall, I was happy with my play (last year) and am looking to build off that this year."

A 5'6" playmaker with a scoring touch, Frantz has pinpointed her areas of focus over the course of the next two years. "I can always get better at every aspect of the game," she said. "But at that level, the girls are so strong."

"Every level you go up, it's that much more physical. You don't want to get pushed around. That's something I can definitely work on."

Thankfully, her keen sense of on-ice awareness will only be leaned on more as she makes the jump to NCAA. "They (Mercyhurst) said I had good hockey IQ," said Frantz. "That's important because you can't teach that."

"I think that I see the game pretty well."

A different game, perhaps, than the one that C.J. Ireland and K.C. Gallo first experienced at Mercyhurst - but one that Sadie Frantz plays quite well.