Aug. 3, 2016 MAAC Women's Soccer Preseason Release
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. -- Defending MAAC Tournament Champion Siena Women's Soccer has been predicted to finish second according to the conference's preseason poll as voted on by the 11 head coaches. Senior captain Tara Sobierajski and junior midfielder Madison Vasquez were named Preseason All-MAAC selections.
"We are all looking forward to the season, and excited about the potential of the team," said head coach Steve Karbowski who begins his 18th season at the helm. "Each season brings new challenges in a competitive MAAC and, with the loss of a large senior class, we will have to work hard and work together to develop our identity and team chemistry. It's nice to see the team well respected in the preseason poll and on the All-MAAC team, but that respect will have to continue to be earned this fall."
Defending MAAC Regular Season Champion Monmouth is the preseason favorite, receiving 119 out of a possible 121 points and 10 of the 11 first-place votes. Siena, which finished sixth during the 2015 MAAC regular season, was awarded 98 points in being selected second. The Saints edged out Rider which received the other first-place vote, and was slotted third with 96 points.
2015 MAAC Tournament Finalist Manhattan was projected fourth with 86 points, followed by Marist (71) in fifth. Niagara and Quinnipiac tied for sixth with 62 points, with Fairfield (58), Canisius (35), Iona (27) and Saint Peter's (27) rounding out the poll.
Rider and Manhattan led all schools with three Preseason All-MAAC selections apiece, while both the Saints and Monmouth each added two on the 12-member squad. The Hawks' Alexis McTamney was tabbed the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year.
Siena College's 2015-16 Female Student Athlete of the Year, Sobierajski is a Preseason All-MAAC selection for the third consecutive season. The standout center back from Rockaway, New Jersey was named an ECAC First Team, NSCAA Northeast Region Third Team, and First Team All-MAAC selection last fall after guiding the Saints to the program's second conference championship.
The only non-goalkeeper in the conference to earn MAAC Defensive Player of the Week honors last season (Oct. 26), Sobierajski ranked third in the MAAC with seven assists while also scoring a pair of game-winning goals. Sobierajski, who has played all but three minutes in her first three seasons with the Saints, anchored a defensive unit which recorded a program single-season record nine shutouts and which posted a team-record shutout streak spanning 504 minutes last fall.
A native of West Babylon, New York, Vasquez was named both a Second Team All-MAAC and MAAC All-Tournament Team selection last season. She started all 22 matches and led the Saints in scoring (16) and goals (seven) which ranked tied for ninth and seventh in the MAAC respectively. She was named the MAAC Offensive Player of the Week and to TopDrawerSoccer's Team of the Week on Nov. 2.
Vasquez also topped Siena with three game-winning tallies, scoring the decisive goals in the squad's two biggest wins of 2015. She scored the winning tally in the definitive regular season finale which clinched Siena the final MAAC Tournament berth, and also netted the game-winner in the MAAC Championship Match.
The Saints will look to build off their historic 2015 season in which they became the first-ever No. 6 seed to win the MAAC Tournament Championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Siena completed its Cinderella run to the program's second MAAC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance (2010) with a final overall record of 12-7-3 last fall, including a 5-4-1 league mark.
The Saints return seven starters and seven of their top-eight scorers from last year's magical squad in retaining 79% of their scoring, while also welcoming six newcomers to the fold. Siena kicks off the program's 37th season on Friday, August 19th at New Hampshire at 7 p.m., and begins its title defense when it opens league play against Iona on Sept. 17 at Siena Field.
