Rochester Knighthawks General Manager and Vice President of Lacrosse Operations Dan Carey announced today that the team has signed transition man/face-off specialist Mike Sisselberger to a one-year contract for the remainder of 2024-25 season, pending league approval.
Sisselberger was selected by Rochester (22nd pick) in NLL Dispersal Draft of the Panther City Lacrosse Club roster of players back in September. Originally a third-round pick (52nd overall) in the 2023 NLL Entry Draft, Sisselberger did not appear in a game with Panther City last season, instead opting to play as a fifth-year graduate student at Lehigh University, where he solidified himself as one of the top face-off specialists in Division I.
In 48 games with the Mountain Hawks, the Center Valley, Penn., native recorded 11 points (7+4) while also winning 742-of-1094 face-off attempts for a .678% success rate. Sisselberger is a two-time Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Year, earning the honors in back-to-back seasons, in addition to being a two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection in 2021 and 2022.
He also holds numerous program and Patriot League records, including the NCAA single season mark for the best faceoff percentage when he finished the 2021 campaign with a 79.5%-win rate. That same year also saw him set the school and Patriot League records for groundballs in a season with 160 and groundballs in a single game when he scooped up 21 against Lafayette on April 18 of that year. Sisselberger finished the 2021 season garnering First Team All-American accolades from the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) and Inside Lacrosse.
Over his five seasons at Lehigh University, the 5-foot-9, 220-pound defenseman was a six-time Faceoff Specialist of the Week winner, a Patriot League single-season record, a three-time USILA National Team of Week honoree and was nominated for the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s top player in Division I lacrosse.
Prior to joining Lehigh University, Sisselberger was a standout at Southern Lehigh High School, becoming Lehigh’s first incoming freshman to play in the Under Armour All-America Game since Eddie Bouhall in 2015. He went on to win 25-of-41 faceoffs while also scoring a goal in a dominant effort. He was named to the Philly Under Armour All-America underclassmen teams in 2016 and 2017 and was a First Team All-Area and All-League selection his sophomore through senior years. Sisselberger was also a USA Today preseason high school All-American, All-State honoree, No. 1 faceoff recruit in the 2018 class and top 50 overall recruit in the class. In addition to being named MVP of his high school football and lacrosse teams, Sisselberger ranked No. 13 in Inside Lacrosse’s Power 100 of incoming freshmen and No. 1 among faceoff specialists.
Sisselberger is currently in his second season with the Utah Archers of the Premier Lacrosse League. In 24 career games with the Archers, he’s notched six points and 233 groundballs while going 363-for-591 at the faceoff dot. He’s a two-time PLL All-Star, having earned the honors in each of his first two pro seasons, and was named a Second Team All-Pro selection following his rookie season in 2023.
