Merrimack Athletics Complex

Merrimack Athletics Complex
MAC
	Lawler Arena Post-Renovation 2024
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Location	North Andover, Massachusetts
Owner	Merrimack College
Operator	Merrimack College
Capacity	2,549 (hockey arena); 1,200 (basketball arena)
Surface	200 x 85 ft (hockey)
Construction
Broke ground	1972
Opened	November 28, 1972
Renovated	2012-2013, 2023
Construction cost	$2 million ; ($15 million in 2024 dollars)
Tenants
	Merrimack Warriors athletics

The Merrimack Athletics Complex is the home of the Merrimack College Warriors athletics teams. It has a basketball court and hockey arena. Hammel Court, located in the Volpe Athletic Center, is the home of the men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the volleyball team. Lawler Rink is the home of the Division I Merrimack Warriors men's ice hockey team, which had won the 1978 Division II national title before transitioning to Division I and joining the Hockey East Conference.

File:Merrimack College Hammel Court IMG 4541.jpg

A game at Hammel court in 2025

The athletic center is named for S. Peter Volpe, a member of the college's Board of Trustees and benefactor. His construction company was responsible for the building of the McQuade Library on campus. His brother, John Volpe, was U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Richard M. Nixon. The hockey arena is named for J. Thom Lawler, former coach of the men's hockey team who died in 1978 at age 44, just after leading the team to their first national title. The basketball/volleyball court is named after former men's basketball head coach Bert Hammel who was part of the program for 40+ years.^[2]

The complex also contains all athletic department offices, The Sports Medicine and Health Sciences Center, Academic Innovation Center, a Strength and Conditioning Center and the Merrimack Athletics Hall of Fame.^[3]

Renovations

Over the summer and winter break of 2010, extensive renovation was done on the arena. The wooden bench seating was completely replaced with seatback chair seating and a student bleacher section was installed behind the visiting goalie's side. The "tin foil" insulation was removed from the roof as well. Seating capacity did decrease, however.

A major expansion^[4] was completed in 2013 that included a second ice rink, a franchise food location, and a campus bookstore.

A new scoreboard/jumbrotron was added prior to the 2022-23 season.

File:Lawler Arena Gallant Pavillion 2024.jpg

Gallant Pavilion Grand Opening in October 2023

File:Lawler Arena Scoreboard.jpg

New scoreboard prior to Merrimack vs Vermont Men's Hockey game. The first game post-renovation and grand opening of the Gallant Pavilion in October 2023

Extensive renovations were also completed in the fall of 2023 including the addition of a brand new pavilion area. Funding was provided by Richard H’15 and Susanna Gallant.^[5]

Lawler Basketball Configuration

Merrimack Men's Basketball played their first ever game at Lawler Arena during the 2021-22 season when they hosted Lehigh. Since then the arena has become a two-sport venue with the ability to change between hockey and basketball like many NHL/NBA arenas. ^[6] The configuration ups the arena’s capacity from 2,549 to 3,000.

File:Lawler Arena Basketball Configuration 2024.jpg

Merrimack vs FDU Basketball Jan 2024

References

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External links

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This article about a sports venue in Massachusetts is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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v t e Merrimack Warriors men's basketball
Venues	Merrimack Athletics Complex (1972–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e Merrimack Warriors women's basketball
Venues	Merrimack Athletics Complex
People	Head coaches
Seasons	2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Merrimack Warriors men's ice hockey
Playing venues	J. Thom Lawler Rink (1972–present)
Head coaches	Jim Reynolds (1956–1964) Ron Ryan (1964–1965) J. Thom Lawler (1965–1978) Bruce Parker (1978–1983) Ron Anderson (1983–1998) Chris Serino (1998–2005) Mark Dennehy (2005–2018) Scott Borek (2018–)
Seasons	1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Conference affiliations	ECAC (1961–1964) ECAC 2 (1964–1984) ECAC East (1984–1989) Hockey East (1989–present)
All-time leaders	Jim Vesey (244 Points) Mike Reynolds (113 Goals) Jim Hrivnak (88 Wins) Joe Cannata Hockey east era (59 Wins)
National championships	DII: 1978
Frozen Four appearances	DII: 1978 1980 1982 1984
NCAA Tournament appearances	DII: 1978 1980 1982 1984 DI:1988 2011 2023
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC 2: 1967 1968 1977 1980 ECAC East: 1987 1988 1989
Conference regular season titles	ECAC 2: 1968 1969 1975 1976 1977 ECAC East: 1987 1988 1989
Hobey Baker winners	Jim Vesey 1988 Division II-III
Merrimack College North Andover, MA

v t e Merrimack Warriors women's ice hockey
Playing venues	Volpe Complex (2015–present)
Head coaches	Erin Hamlen (2015-present)
Seasons	2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
All-time leaders	Mikyla Grant-Mentis (117 Points)
Pros	Mikyla Grant-Mentis Dominique Kremer Samantha Ridgewell Paige Voight

v t e Hockey East
Men	Boston College Eagles (Conte Forum) Boston University Terriers (Agganis Arena) Maine Black Bears (Alfond Sports Arena) Merrimack Warriors (J. Thom Lawler Rink) New Hampshire Wildcats (Whittemore Center) Northeastern Huskies (Matthews Arena) Providence Friars (Schneider Arena) UConn Huskies (Toscano Family Ice Forum) UMass Minutemen (Mullins Center) UMass Lowell River Hawks (Tsongas Center) Vermont Catamounts (Gutterson Fieldhouse)
Men's Seasons	1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Women	Boston College Eagles (Conte Forum) Boston University Terriers (Walter Brown Arena) Holy Cross Crusaders (Hart Center) Maine Black Bears (Alfond Sports Arena) Merrimack Warriors (J. Thom Lawler Rink) New Hampshire Wildcats (Whittemore Center) Northeastern Huskies (Matthews Arena) Providence Friars (Schneider Arena) UConn Huskies (Toscano Family Ice Forum) Vermont Catamounts (Gutterson Fieldhouse)
Related articles	Lamoriello Trophy Hockey East men's ice hockey tournament List of champions: Men / Women Tournament sites: TD Garden

Merrimack Athletics Complex

Contents

Renovations

Lawler Basketball Configuration

References

External links

Navigation menu

Construction
MAC
Lawler Arena Post-Renovation 2024
Lua error in Module:Infobox_mapframe at line 197: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Location	North Andover, Massachusetts
Owner	Merrimack College
Operator	Merrimack College
Capacity	2,549 (hockey arena) 1,200 (basketball arena)
Surface	200 x 85 ft (hockey)
Broke ground	1972
Opened	November 28, 1972
Renovated	2012-2013, 2023
Construction cost	$2 million ($15 million in 2024 dollars^[1])
Tenants
Merrimack Warriors athletics

Merrimack Athletics Complex

Renovations

Lawler Basketball Configuration

References

External links

Navigation menu

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