LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Women's Soccer kicks off a season-long, four-game homestand when the Saints host Sacred Heart Thursday at 3 p.m. at Hickey Field.
 
Siena (0-3-1) returns to the friendly confines of Hickey Field in search of their first victory of 2022. The Saints played three of their first four regular season matches on the road – dropping all three – while securing a 2-2 draw with Holy Cross in the home-opener on Aug. 21. Siena is an impressive 10-1-3 in home matches contested at Hickey Field since the facility became the program's primary home venue beginning with the Spring 2021 MAAC Championship campaign.
 
Predicted to finish fourth according to the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing tied for fourth with a trip to the conference semifinals last season, the Saints have returned six starters while also working to integrate a program record nine-member freshman class to the squad this fall. Siena has been outscored by an aggregate of 8-3 over their first four matches, bookended by a pair of 2-0 road shutout defeats at the hands of four-time defending Northeast Conference Champion Central Connecticut and ACC foe Syracuse. Junior striker Annie Bagnall has accounted for two of the Saints' three goals, while classmate Angela Fini has made her first four collegiate starts in goal totaling 29 saves and a .784 save percentage.
 
Siena's four-match homestand matches the program's longest (2005, 2009) in 23 years, dating back to a record five-match homestand from Oct. 2-12, 1999 in head coach Steve Karbowski's first year at the helm. The 1993 Siena graduate picked up his milestone 200^th career head coaching victory last fall, and became the first head coach in MAAC Women's Soccer history to eclipse 100 career regular season conference wins in 2019. The Saints have been dominant in Loudonville over the past 15 seasons, achieving an impressive 82-30-17 (.702) overall mark at home dating back to 2007.
 
Projected to place third out of 10 teams according to the NEC Preseason Poll after pacing the conference in scoring last season (1.56), Sacred Heart (1-2) defeated Big East foe St. John's 2-0 in Queens for their first victory on Aug. 25. The Pioneers have been shutout by identical 2-0 scores at home in their other two matches to date against Vermont and Dartmouth.  
 
Siena and Sacred Heart meet for the 10^th time, with the Pioneers holding a 5-3-1 all-time advantage. Sacred Heart prevailed 2-1 exactly a year ago today in Connecticut in the first matchup between the programs in 13 years. Danielle Borrino staked the Saints to a 1-0 lead midway through the first half, but the Pioneers responded with goals by Kelly Medeiros (72') and Grace O'Hara (76') just 4:31 apart in the second half to rally for the victory. Sacred Heart held a 19-8 shots advantage, with Brooke Boermeester making seven saves for Siena.
 
Kelly O'Donnell and Brett Bosley have the call of the match on ESPN+, which is available to watch by clicking the corresponding link, as well as on smartphones and tablets via the ESPN app, and on televisions through Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Thursday's contest marks the first of 15 Siena Athletics home games this fall which are scheduled to be broadcast on the ESPN Family of Networks. Five women's soccer regular season home matches will be broadcast on either ESPN+ or ESPN3 this fall, with the squad's four additional contests at Hickey Field slated to be streamed on Siena All-Access.