Oct. 21, 2001

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - In a game that could go a long way toward determining the field at the MAAC Tournament, Siena beat Rider 3-1 on Senior Day Sunday afternoon.

The Saints improve to 5-8-1 and 4-3 in the MAAC. More importantly, with just two games left, Siena is now tied for third in the conference standings with Manhattan while Rider fell to 3-4 in the MAAC and 3-9-2 overall. The top four teams qualify for the conference tournament.

The Saints spotted Rider the early advantage when Phillip Bedrin scored just over 11 minutes into the game. However, Siena dominated play throughout and broke through nine minutes later when senior Kevin Purcell (Albany, N.Y./Guilderland) broke in alone and notched his sixth goal of the year.

The Green and Gold took the lead for good when Tom Santoro (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga) scored just over two minutes into the second half. The MAAC's second-leading scorer, Paul Ciovacco (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) closed out the scoring with his seventh goal of the year. Joseph Macarak (Binghamton, N.Y./Johnson City) assisted on both goals.

Siena outshot Rider 18-8. Brian Gill made seven saves in net for the Broncs while Jonathan Hicks (Merrick, N.Y./Chaminade) made one spectacular point-blank stop for the Saints in picking up the victory.

Through tiebreakers, the Saints can lock up a berth in the conference tournament with a win at Marist on Tuesday.

Rider 1 0 1

Siena 1 2 3

RID 11:03 Phil Bedrin (Bob Francis)

SIE 20:21 Kevin Purcell

SIE 47:43 Tom Santoro (Joseph Macarak)

SIE 72:10 Paul Ciovacco (Joseph Macarak)

Goalies

Rider-Brian Gill (7 SV, 3 GA)

Siena-Jonathan Hicks (1 SV, 1 GA)

Shots: Siena-18, Rider-8

Corner Kicks: Siena-5, Rider-4

Fouls: Siena-19, Rider-12