NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – After ending the 2022 regular season on a high note in shutout fashion, the road to the ultimate goal for Siena Men's Soccer begins Sunday evening on Monteagle Ridge. The No. 5 seeded Saints (8-5-5, 4-2-4) are set to meet No. 4 Niagara (5-8-5, 4-2-4) in the 2022 MAAC Quarterfinals on Sunday, November 6 at 6 PM on Niagara Field.
Saturday's match will be aired live on ESPN+, while Live stats will be available via the link above, and live up-to-the-minute updates will be available by following @SienaSoccer on Twitter.
Siena locked up a postseason berth for the third straight year under third-year head coach Graciano Brito last Wednesday, marking the first time since 2014-16 that the team had done so. The Saints recorded a 2-0 shutout victory at Fairfield, with junior Bilal Hersi and sophomore Thomas Storodegard each finding the back of the net in the first half. The shutout result tied the team for the most clean sheets in a single season in program history (1998), and gave them back-to-back eight-win seasons for the first time since the previously mentioned three-year string. Siena will have a chance to achieve consecutive nine-win campaigns for the first time in program history on Sunday.
Making its 20th MAAC postseason appearance, Siena will look to build on a 7-16-5 record in the MAAC Tournament, and seeks its first postseason win outright since 2015. The Saints advanced in a penalty shootout to the MAAC Semifinals in 2016, before falling in a penalty shootout to Monmouth. Siena and Niagara will go toe-to-toe in the postseason for the first time since 2015, with the No. 6 Saints taking a 1-0 victory over the No. 11 Purple Eagles in Florida during that year's opening round. Niagara began the postseason series with a 2-1 overtime win over the Green and Gold in Poughkeepsie, New York in the 2012 MAAC Semifinals. Siena holds the No. 5 position in the tournament for the third time ever and the first time since 2014, and is 1-2 overall as that seed.
Siena boasted 18 different point scorers on its roster during the regular season, marking the most in a campaign since 2002. The team's offense is led by one-time MAAC Offensive Player of the Week Storodegard, whose eight goals rank second in the league, while his five game-winning scores are tied for second nationally and set a single-season program record. The Baerums Verk, Norway product ranks 32nd nationally in goals scored and 47th in goals per-game (0.50), while recording the most scored by a Siena player in a single season since program great Sindre Ek (12) in 2012.
The team's defense had been guided by graduate student and three-time MAAC Defensive Player of the Week Greg Monroe, who set five program records over the course of the regular season. The Clifton Park, New York native owns marks in career shutouts (17), goalkeeper wins (28), saves (365), matches played (80), and minutes played (7,304), and is now tied with Eric Lind (1998) for the most clean sheets in a single season at seven, which ranks 12th nationally. Monroe is also the NCAA Division I active leader in saves, and ranks second among active keepers in minutes played. He leads the MAAC in shutouts, minutes played (1,592, eighth nationally), and save percentage (.814, 14th nationally), while ranking second in goals-against-average (1.02) and third in total saves (79, seventh nationally).
As a team, Siena leads the MAAC in points scored this year with 81, while holding opponents to only 18 total goals, which ranks second behind Manhattan's 16 allowed. The Saints are also second in assists with 31, while ranking ninth nationally in save percentage (.818), and 25th in in shutout percentage (.444).
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 in the MAAC quarterfinals. Under the direction of Brito for the third year, Siena returned 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.
Siena and Niagara will meet for the 37th time overall since both teams joined the MAAC in 1989, with the Saints holding a 21-10-5 advantage in the series. The Purple Eagles got the better of the Green and Gold during this year's regular season meeting, with goals from Gabriel Mikina and Emmanuel Obiefuna guiding them to a 2-0 win at Hickey Field on October 12. Niagara has won the last three meetings, while the Saints went 7-0-1 against their league rivals from 2013-19 previously. Siena's last victory at Niagara Field came in the form of a 2-1 feat on September 26, 2018.
Picked to finish sixth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll, Niagara went without a loss in its final three conference matches to earn a home playoff match for the third straight year. The Purple Eagles - who earned the right to host by way of a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Saints – earned shutout wins over Siena, Canisius, Saint Peter's and MAAC Regular Season Champion Quinnipiac, while playing Marist, Rider and Mount St. Mary's to draws. Led by seventh year head coach Bill Boyle, Niagara's offensive leader has been Rodrigo Almeida, who leads the league in shots-on-goal (24) and ranks third in goals (seven) and tied for seventh in total points (18). The Purple Eagles will seek their second MAAC title after claiming victory in 2012.
