LOUDONVILLE, NY – Following a stretch of four of five matches away from home to continue conference play, Siena Men's Soccer (7-5-3, 3-2-2) Siena will end regular season competition with two of its last three contests inside the friendly confines of Hickey Field. The Saints will host MAAC rival Iona (4-3-4, 3-0-3) while honoring its graduating class on Saturday, October 22 at 2 PM.
Saturday's match will be aired live on ESPN3, with the "Voice of the Saints Emmanuel Berbari handling play-by-play duties and program great James Beeston '13 providing color commentary. Live stats will be available on SienaSaints.com, while live up-to-the-minute updates will be available by following @SienaSoccer on Twitter.
Saturday's contest will serve as the program's annual Senior Day, with seven members of the Green and Gold receiving pregame recognition. Graduate student Alex Bourgeois, senior Luke Ferrari, senior Mark Sojer, senior Svavar Nokkvason, senior Antonio La Gamba, redshirt junior Luke Rossiter, and redshirt junior Niko Dimkopoulos will be celebrated as part of the team's graduating class.
Siena will look to finish the regular season strong after dropping two of its last three contests to sink to fourth in the league standings. The Saints followed up an October 12th 2-0 home loss against Niagara with a 2-0 shutout victory at Mount St. Mary's last Saturday, but struggled this past Wednesday in a 1-0 road loss at Saint Peter's.
Wednesday's action was highlighted by graduate student goalkeeper Greg Monroe becoming the program's all-time leader in saves with 349. The Clifton Park, New York native now owns five program records, having previously set the program marks for goalkeeper wins, minutes played, shutouts, and matches played. Additionally, Monroe leads all active NCAA Division I keepers in saves and ranks second in minutes (7,033.77). He also ranks ninth nationally in minutes played, tenth in total saves (63), 24th in shutouts (5), and 31st in save percentage (.797).
Monroe was joined last week by sophomore Thomas Storodegard in hitting a program milestone, with the Baerums Verk, Norway native netting his fifth game-winning goal of the season in the win over The Mount to set the single-season program record and put him tied for second nationally in the stat. Storodegard also ranks tied for second in the MAAC in total goals with seven, which is good for 30th nationally and 43rd in the nation in goals per-game (0.54).
At 7-5-4 on the season, Siena has recorded seven or more wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2015 & 2016 campaigns. The Saints will aim to secure a spot in the 2022 MAAC Championship, which would mark the first time since the 2014-16 seasons and only the third time since joining the MAAC in 1989 that the program has gone to postseason play in three consecutive years. The Saints own a 3-2-1 mark at home this season, and are an impressive 11-4-4 at Hickey Field under third year head coach Graciano Brito.
Picked to finish fifth in the 2022 MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll, the Green and Gold played to a 9-7-3 overall mark and a 5-3-2 conference record in 2021, securing the number four seed in the MAAC and ultimately falling to number five Rider at home in the MAAC quarterfinals. Under the direction of Brito for the third year, Siena returns 24 letterwinners from last season while adding seven newcomers.
Sophomore Jacob Sandun Arachchige-Jensen highlighted the roster by becoming the fourth player in program history to earn MAAC Rookie of the Year honors, while becoming the first Siena freshman to take a home First Team All-MAAC nod and the only rookie in the league to do so last year. Classmate Henrik Winkelmann earned Second Team All-MAAC honors, while the pair joined defender Erik Reis, midfielder Zach Gardner, Storodegard, and defender Jesper Schone Vogtengen in making the MAAC All-Rookie Team. Arachchige-Jensen, Reis, and Winkelmann all started the year by being selected to the 2022 Preseason All-MAAC Team.
Facing off against Iona for the 44th time since 1982, the Saints will look for its first non-losing result against the Gaels since 2016, with Iona holding a six-match win streak and a 23-18-2 all-time series lead. This included a 3-1 Iona victory in New Rochelle on October 20, 2021. The Saints last defeated the Gaels on October 29, 2016, and last did so at home on October 19, 2013, with each of Siena's last four non-losing decisions coming in shutout fashion.
Led by seventh year head coach James Hamilton, Iona played a meager six-match non-conference schedule before embarking on what has been a seven-match unbeaten streak since September 24. Currently second in the MAAC in points with 12, Iona remains as the only unbeaten team in league play following a 2-1 win over Niagara on October 19. The team also claimed wins over Marist (1-0) and Manhattan (2-1), while playing Rider (0-0), Canisius (3-3) and Quinnipiac (1-1) to ties. Iona is led offensively by freshman Sergio Gonzalez Fernandez with eight points, while goalkeeper Juan Alfaro Monge has played every minute in-goal this season, and ranks 30th nationally in saves per-game (4.27).
