Competing in its second league play weekend of the 2019 season, Siena Water Polo dropped a pair of heartbreaking games to MAAC rivals Saturday in Staten Island, NY. The Saints (7-13, 0-2) fell to La Salle, 11-10, to begin the morning, before losing by the same score to St. Francis (NY) later that afternoon.

Facing off against the Explorers for the second time this year having defeated them in their first win of the season at the Bison Invitational February 9th, the Saints scored first before entering back-and-forth scoring action, ultimately holding a 7-6 lead at the half. Both teams put up a pair of goals each in the third quarter before La Salle sparked a late rally to lead by two with 4:08 remaining.

Junior Diana Fernandez capped off a hat trick by pulling the Green and Gold within one 11 seconds later but the Saints could not convert on four shots in the final minutes to tie the game. Sophomore Sophia Torres joined Fernandez in scoring multiple times, leading the team with four goals in the contest. Senior Kennedy Joseph spent the duration of the contest in-goal for the Saints, making six saves in her 45th career appearance.

After re-grouping off the loss, Siena took the pool against the Terriers later in the afternoon and conceded a pair of early goals in the opening period before freshman Bianca Prinsloo knotted the game at two with 7:12 remaining in the first half. After scoring the first Siena goal of the day, sophomore Anna Borton would find the net twice more in the first half to join Prinsloo in notching a hat trick in the contest and give the Saints a 5-3 advantage at the half. The Terriers would then score four times in the third quarter as the lead went back and forth, with sophomore Kristen Burger's two goals giving the game a 7-all result heading into the final period.

Three more lead changes would be countered, and the game at 10-10 with 2:44 remaining, with each team using a timeout thereafter. Finding the ball on a second chance try after a save by Joseph, St. Francis senior Sara Monckton netted the game-winning goal with 22 seconds left, again depriving the Saints of picking up their first conference win of the year.

Despite the losses, the day did not end without Fernandez making up more historical ground on the season.  The Chicago, IL native tallied four points to move into a tie for fifth place in program history in the statistic, surpassing Stephanie Bundas (258, 2012-15) and sitting alongside Caitlin Smith (261, 2005-08). She also tied Devan Ragg (123, 2008-11) for fifth all-time in steals, picking up one in the first game of the day.

Following the Saturday doubleheader, Siena will resume conference play with a pair of games on Sunday, with both coming against nationally-ranked MAAC foes. The Saints will take on host No. 15 Wagner at 9 AM before battling with No. 20 Marist at 3 PM.