Syracuse University may not hire a women’s ice hockey coach until April, five or six months before the program plays its first game, a source with knowledge of the situation said last week.

The athletics department wanted to hire a coach before the 2007-08 season, but none of the top candidates wanted to take a year off from coaching, the source said.

The Daily Orange reported in October the university hoped to name a coach by March. The athletics department determined the search could take an additional month. The NCAA season ends March 22.

‘We are going to have an awesome program, and we are comfortable with our coaching situation,’ Director of Athletics Daryl Gross said in a statement to The D.O. on Friday.

The D.O.’s source wished to remain anonymous because he/she was not authorized to speak publicly about the situation.

Mercyhurst College’s Michael Sisti turned down an offer last summer from SU to become the highest-paid coach in collegiate women’s ice hockey, the hometown Erie Times-News reported in August. The athletic department contacted other candidates last summer as well.

The new coach must hire one or two assistants and recruit a roster of approximately 20 players. Any transfers who played at another school in 2007-08 would not be eligible to play at SU until 2009-10. Schools start play at the end of September or in early October.

Gross announced the addition of women’s ice hockey for the 2008-09 season in June. SU will phase out men’s and women’s swimming and diving to accommodate the new sport.

The D.O. first reported in September 2006 the athletic department would add a women’s sport – likely ice hockey or golf – for 2010-11 academic year. Gross accelerated the original timetable by two seasons when he revealed his choice last summer.

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Published on February 3, 2008 at 12:00 pm