LOUDONVILLE, NY – The Siena Women's Lacrosse team holds heir own destiny in their hands, as a win against the Niagara Purple Eagles Thursday afternoon at Hickey Field will give the Green and Gold at least a share of the MAAC Regular Season title for the second time in program history, and the first time since that 2005 season.
With a win and a little bit of help across the league on Saturday, the Saints could be the outright winner for the first time in program history. In 2005, the Saints tied with Fairfield for first in the conference, losing in a tiebreaker to the Stags and playing in the MAAC Tournament as the second seed.
More program records came to the chopping block last Saturday afternoon, as the Saints saw fifth-year
Nicole McNeely break the program's single-season points record and senior
Mary Soures break the single-season goals record. All of this came in what was a one-sided 19-9 victory over the Manhattan Jaspers, as Soures and classmates
Hannah Field and
Jillian Risavi were honored prior to the game.
McNeely's new record was previously 72 points from
Kerry Gerety's 2019 season, while Soures broke the record previously held by a 54-goal season from Alexis Deaken in 2018. The win was also the largest margin for the Saints this season, with the 19 goals the second most goals scored in a game. The duo – along with freshman
Grace Dobrzynski – have now broken the career and single-season records for goals, assists, and points.
McNeely finished the game with a team-best nine points on five goals and four assists, while Soures tossed around seven points with four goals and a season-high three assists. Dobrzynski kept up her hot hands with six points on three goals and three assists.
Kelsey Lane also finished with a solid line, tossing in four goals and dishing an assist. Junior
Sabrina Krasner totaled five saves, allowing just the two goals in the second half.
The Saints saw both McNeely and Dobrzynski win MAAC Weekly Awards this past week thanks to their performances. The awards were McNeely's second of the season, while Dobrzynski earned her third of the year. Soures also has two this season, while freshman
Meghan Decker has one to her name from the first week of the season.
Niagara (9-6, 5-1) enter the game atop the MAAC with their 5-1 record. The Purple Eagles are coming off of a non-conference loss to Louisville 19-10 on Monday afternoon to conclude its non-conference schedule. Three Purple Eagles recorded multi-goal games, including Riley Latray and Kendall Schneider who registered their first career-multi-goal efforts. Andra Savage found the back of the net twice for her third game with two or more tallies. Niagara used three goalies in the contest. Michelle Messenger got the start before being pulled for Maren Geiger in the second quarter. Geiger finished with 27 minutes in the cage, making nine saves. Jordan Roy also appeared in net for the Purple Eagles, collecting three saves in 17 minutes of action. On the road this season, the Purple Eagles are 5-5.
The Purple Eagles and Saints meet for the 26th time, with the Purple Eagles holding a 15-10 advantage over Siena. Niagara has won the previous two matchups with the Saints, both of them coming last season in back-to-back days – and were the only two conference losses of the season for the Saints in 2021. In the
Abigail Rehfuss era, the Saints are 1-4 all-time against the Purple Eagles.
Follow the Saints' season finale by clicking on the corresponding live video and live stats links at the top of the page. Watch live on ESPN+, with
Emmanuel Berbari and former Siena goalkeeper Danielle DeLisio on the call. Fans can also follow along live with the Saints' live stats page. Continuous in-game updates will be provided via the team's official twitter page @SienaWLax. Join the conversation by using the hashtags #MarchOn, #SienaSaints, and #MAACLAX.
