Nov. 5, 2010
By Dan Goldman, Messenger Post
During their high school careers, Lindsay Tegas and Maren Serafine went head-to-head when Canandaigua met Wayne in girls soccer. The two have been playing alongside one another for the past three seasons on the Siena College soccer team.
"It's a little weird, but it's a lot of fun," Serafine said. "We spent so much time being rivals when we were able to work together it was fun."
The juniors helped lead the Saints to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals at Loyola University in Baltimore. Siena faces Marist College Friday night.
Tegas, a Wayne graduate; and Serafine, a Canandaigua graduate, played on the same Olympic Developmental Program team for five years and later played on different teams for the Rochester Junior Rhinos.
In the fall of 2008, both girls started school at Siena.
"It was nice being able to come in and at least know someone a little bit and not have to meet everyone," Tegas said.
In their first two years, the Saints made it to the MAAC Tournament, but lost. Siena started this season red-hot winning their first 12 games.
"It was super exciting," Serafine said. "I don't think anyone would've expected us to be 12-0 and be the only undefeated, untied team in the nation."
The undefeated streak started with a 3-2 overtime win over the University of Connecticut, a Big East power. Tegas said one of the reasons for the success is the Saints have the same lineup as last year.
"We definitely have really good chemistry on the team," she said. "We all get along, we listen to each other when we have to fix something and step up when we have to."
In order to make the MAAC Tournament Siena needed to win its final two games. The Saints defeated Fairfield 2-1 in double-overtime and defeated Iona 2-0. Tegas assisted on the game-winning goal against Fairfield.
Siena finished the season 15-3, which was a program record for wins.
Tegas, a midfielder, scored 10 goals and dished out four assists while starting 15 games this season. "She's always working hard, she's a fast player who gets up and down the field like crazy," Serafine said. "She's always determined to win the ball."
Serafine, a defender, started all 18 games for the Saints.
"She is a very good defender," Tegas said. "She makes extremely smart decisions, she's very careful back there and is very good in the air."
Tegas, the daughter of Barbara and Michael Tegas, is studying chemistry and is looking to teach high school chemistry. Serafine, the daughter of John and Cindy Serafine, is studying English and wants to teach elementary school.
If Siena defeats Marist Friday they would play the winner of Canisius College and Rider University for the MAAC Championship on Sunday and a bid to the National College Athletic Association's Division I Women's Soccer Championship tournament.
"We've got the urge to win a MAAC Championship," Serafine said. "This year we've dedicated ourselves to getting to that goal."
