Dec. 15, 2010
View the Complete 2011 Schedule
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Siena men's lacrosse head coach Brian Brecht has released this morning one of the most challenging schedules in program history. The Saints open their 15-game regular season docket on Feb. 12 at defending National Champion Duke and will also travel to take on perennial national power Johns Hopkins on Feb. 26 in a nationally televised game on ESPNU.
"I am very excited to get the season started," commented Brecht who enters his seventh season as head coach. "We have an extremely difficult non-conference schedule which includes road games at defending national champion Duke and Johns Hopkins. I am looking forward to these contests which should be good preparation for us heading into MAAC play."
The 15-game slate includes eight home games, six road contests and a neutral site tilt. The 2011 season begins on Feb 12 in Durham, N.C. against the defending National Champion Blue Devils. Duke finished 16-4 a year ago and is ranked fifth in the Inside Lacrosse Faceoff Yearbook Preseason Top-20 Media and Coaches Poll.
On Feb. 20 the Green and Gold will travel to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse for a highly anticipated day of lacrosse. The Saints face Air Force in a 4 p.m. face-off which directly follows the Orange game against Denver at 1 p.m.
On Feb. 26 the Saints again face a daunting task when they travel to Baltimore to take on the Blue Jays for a second straight season. Last year in a matchup which was also televised on ESPNU, the Saints took then fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins to the wire, dropping a narrow 8-7 decision. The Blue Jays, who made the NCAA Tournament a year ago, are ranked No. 11 in the Preseason Top-20 Poll.
Siena enjoys its longest homestand of the season with three games from Mar. 5-12 at Siena Turf Field. The Saints will host non-conference opponents Hartford (Mar. 5), Wagner (Mar. 8) and St. John's (Mar. 12). Other out-of-conference foes include home games against Binghamton (Mar. 22) and crosstown rival UAlbany (Apr. 26) and a road contest at Providence (Mar. 26).
Conference play begins on Mar. 19 when the Saints travel to Poughkeepsie to face Marist. MAAC home games in 2011 include Detroit (Apr. 2), Manhattan (Apr. 16) and VMI for Senior Day and Alumni Appreciation Day on Apr. 30. Additional conference road tilts include new conference member Jacksonville (Apr. 9) and Canisius (Apr. 23). The top-four regular season finishers will qualify for the MAAC Tournament which takes place May 6-8 on the campus of Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. which was the site of the Saints' first MAAC Tournament Championship in 2009.
Siena returns six starters including six of its top nine scorers from last year's team which finished 12-5 overall and won the MAAC Regular Season Championship. The Saints, which have won 44 games the past four seasons and a program record-tying 12 games each of the past two years, will be led by senior captains John Rogener and Tom Morr along with senior All-MAAC First Team defender Duncan Seale and junior All-MAAC First Team attackman Bryan Neufeld. Morr, Seale and Neufeld were named to the 13-member Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-MAAC Team, while Rogener was a Second Team All-MAAC selection a year ago.
