LOUDONVILLE, NY – After clawing its way back into the season all the way to clinching a first-round bye, Siena Men's Soccer is set to take the field at home for postseason action for the second time in three years. The No. 2 seed Saints (8-8) will host No. 3 Rider (10-3-4) on Thursday, November 9 at 1 PM on Hickey Field, with a trip to the 2023 MAAC Championship Game at stake.

Thursday's match will be aired live on ESPN+, with Kelly O'Donnell and Patrick Meany on the call. Live up-to-the-minute updates will be available by following @SienaSoccer on Twitter.

General admission tickets to Thursday's contest are $10 while student tickets are $5, and can be purchased at MAACSports.com/Tickets. Siena Athletics is proud to offer free admission to the first 100 Siena students who present a valid student ID.

After beginning the 2023 season 0-6, the Green and Gold claimed victory in eight of their final ten matches to match its highest regular season finish ever and conclude the regular season at the No. 2 seed for the first time since 2010 while boasting a program record eight MAAC victories. Siena also clinched a home playoff game for the second time in three seasons under fourth year head coach Graciano Brito, who has guided his squad to the postseason in each season at the helm thus far.

Looking to make their very first MAAC Championship Game appearance, the Saints own a 7-17-5 all-time record over 20 postseason appearances, and seek their first regulation postseason victory since 2015. Making the fifth appearance in program history as the No. 2 seed, Siena is 0-3-1 all-time as No. 2 and 0-11-2 in the semifinal round.

After boasting four different players with seven total MAAC weekly honors this season, the Green and Gold picked up six MAAC postseason honors, with senior forward Junior Kone, junior midfielder Zach Gardner, junior back Henrik Winkelmann, and freshman goalkeeper Bennet Glinder each earning Second Team All-MAAC nods and senior forward Bilal Hersi joining freshman midfielder Ben Biton in taking home Third Team All-MAAC honors. The team has won 22 postseason honors in four years under Coach Brito overall.

Boasting a stellar 5-2 home mark this season and having outscored opponents, 18-8, over the last ten contests, Siena was led by Gardner (four goals, six assists) in both helps and overall scoring with 14 total points during the regular season, while Kone's five goals also steady the team in that category. Gardner has notched either a goal or an assist in six straight games, while Kone has scored in three of the last four contests and Hersi has recorded a point in four of the last five matchups. Winkelmann has provided starts in all but one game on Siena's back line this season, while two-time MAAC Defensive Player of the Week Glinder owns a 1.07 goals-against average in 56 saves.

Rider leads the all-time series, 14-12-6, since joining the MAAC in 1997, and owns a 3-1-1 advantage in the postseason. The Broncs claimed victory in the Saints' most recent home postseason match via a 1-0 decision in the 2021 MAAC Quarterfinals, and also knocked the Saints out of the 2016 semifinals in a penalty shootout. Rider took a 1-0 victory during the regular season back on September 16 via a goal in the 64^th minute from Luke Kirilenko, and is 6-2-2 over the series' last ten matches. Siena will aim for its first win over the Broncs at home since 2017 and its first in the postseason since 2007.

Already with a postseason victory under its belt, Rider recorded a definitive 3-1 home Quarterfinal victory over #6 Marist last Saturday. Led by first-year head coach Chad Duernberger, the Broncs boasted a program record eight different student athletes who took home an All-MAAC nod, including four First Team selections and MAAC Rookie of the Year Saad Chaouki. The team is led offensively by Babacar Diene, who holds 11 goals to rank second in the MAAC and closed out the regular season with a natural hat trick against Saint Peter's which led to him being named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week.

The 2023 MAAC Men's Soccer Championship match will be held on Sunday, November 12, with the winner of Thursday's match facing off against the winner of No. 1 Iona and No. 4 Manhattan at the home of the higher seed.