LOUDONVILLE, NY – The wait is nearly over for the Siena Women's Lacrosse team.
The Saints, who enter as the defending MAAC Regular Season Co-Champions, will open the 2023 season with a visit to Hamilton to take on Colgate on Thursday with a 4 p.m. draw.
Siena will be seeking its' third consecutive win on opening day after defeating New Hampshire 18-6 in 2022 and Canisius 6-5 in double overtime in 2021.
Picked tied for second place with one first place vote in the MAAC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll, Siena boasts 16 upperclassmen including two fifth-year players and seven seniors under the direction of head coach
Abigail Rehfuss.
The Saints (10-8 in 2022) have championship aspirations on their minds after coming narrowly close to accomplishing the feat in the prior three conference tournaments, losing by close margins to eventual champion Fairfield on each occasion.
One of the fifth-year student-athletes is midfielder
Mary Soures, who was unanimously selected as the Preseason All-MAAC Player of the Year and doubled as a Preseason All-MAAC Team selection after setting the program single-season record for goals scored with 61. Soures, a Rochester, NY native, enters with 171 career points and 146 goals.
The defense is led by senior
Jenna Colabufo, who was also named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team. The recognition comes after Bethlehem, NY native was named to the All-MAAC Second Team last season, in which she ranked third on the team in both turnovers (26) and groundballs (19) and started all 18 games.
The all-time series between Siena and Colgate is knotted at three wins apiece. When the teams faced each other last season on March 2, the Saints rallied back from a 10-5 halftime deficit to complete the comeback behind a 7-1 advantage in the final quarter to pick up a 16-13 triumph. Soures recorded a hat trick while Amanda Neiman,
Grace Dobrzynski,
Laura Bonomo,and
Jordan Bentley each tallied two goals apiece.
Colgate went 6-12 last season and qualified for the Patriot League Tournament in large part because of how they finished the season by winning its' last four regular season games, all by one goal. The Raiders were picked to finish fifth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll with senior midfielder Cara O'Reilly being named to the Patriot League Preseason All-League Team.
Follow the Saints' season opening game by clicking on the corresponding live video and live stats links at the top of the page. Watch via ESPN+ live stream or follow along with Colgate's 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.
After the Saints' match on Thursday, Siena will return for their home opener at Hickey Field this Sunday, February 19 for a noon draw time against Atlantic Coast Conference foe Pittsburgh.
