LOUDONVILLE, NY – Playing inside the friendly confines of Hickey Field for the first time in over 16 months and doing so in driving rain, Siena Men's Soccer (1-1, 1-1 MAAC) used a second half burst to pick up its first win of the Spring 2021 season Thursday afternoon. The Saints scored three times in 14:53 to take a 3-2 victory over visiting Canisius (0-2, 0-2 MAAC), which served as the first career win for first-year head coach Graciano Brito.
"It felt great, especially to come out on a day like this with the weather and the rain, and have the guys fight the way that they did," Brito said. "We're definitely going to enjoy this one, and it is one that we'll remember forever, the first win."
Following a 1-0 loss at Rider the previous week to begin its seven-match conference campaign, Siena took the first at home for the first of three scheduled matches in Loudonville this season. The Saints found themselves with a 1-0 deficit at the intermission, with Canisius' Lachlan Beever rolling a feed from Alessandro Fabiano into the right of the goal to put the visitors on the board in the 31st minute.
With rain continuing to fall and the young Saints settling into their first home action since November 2019, first-time players came to life in the second half to give the Green and Gold the advantage. Freshman Jack Mendrysa knotted the contest at one by putting away a ball just feet from the net in the 61st minute, after receiving a top-right feed from classmate Cam Shaw. The Saints had reason to celebrate again just seven minutes later, when the Golden Griffins took a clear the wrong way and netted an own goal on a ball that had last been handled by Shaw in the 67th minute.
Following a Canisius free kick score to re-tie the game just over a minute later, Shaw used his home debut to put the exclamation point on a successful offensive outing for the team. The Ottawa, Ontario native quieted a pass from the far side of the 35-yard line and buried a far-right strike to put Siena up, 3-2 in the 76th minute. The screamer proved to be the difference, as Canisius came up empty-handed in the final 15 minutes of the match, give the Saints their third straight overall win and seventh consecutive non-losing result against the Griffs.
"We just settled into the game in the second half after entering super slow," Shaw said. "Our passing got better, we all started working together, we put some balls in the box and they ended up in the back of the net."
Canisius held a 14-13 advantage in shots despite taking the loss, while Siena led, 8-5, in shots on-goal. The Saints held a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks taken, with six different Saints firing off a shot. Aside from the first career goals from both Mendrysa and Shaw, freshman Bilal Hersi led the way offensively for the Green and Gold for the second straight contest, attempting five shots. Junior goalkeeper Greg Monroe picked up the win, making three saves in-between-the-pipes.
Following the team's first win of the season under Brito, Siena will prepare to travel to their new coach's old stomping grounds for their next contest. The Saints will travel to Hamden, Connecticut to face Quinnipiac, where Brito spent the previous eight seasons as an assistant, on Thursday, March 25, with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 PM.
