LOUDONVILLE, NY – The first recipients for the Leo Dufort Student-Athletes of the Month were named to soccer standouts Zach Gardner and Kam Vanderbosch of the Siena Men and Women's Soccer teams for the month of September to start the 2024-2025 school year.
 
Gardner, a senior midfielder, has already been awarded a MAAC Offensive Player of the Week nod after scoring the winning goal and playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 victory against conference opponent Saint Peter's on September 28. The Glastonbury, CT native has scored in three of the previous four Saints matches and has served as a team captain.  Gardner is coming off a Second Team All-MAAC selection and is a three-time MAAC All-Academic Team member or Honor Roll member.
 
In 54 career matches, Gardner has 14 goals and 11 assists including five winning goals to his name.  The four-year letterman held a 3.94 GPA last spring and a 3.70 overall GPA while majoring in Health Studies Health Science. 
 
Vanderbosch, a junior back, has been a stable force on the team as she ranks second on the team in minutes played with 1,080 thus far this season.  In each of her first two seasons, the Lancaster, NY native has been on the field with either the most amount of playing time or second most—accruing 1,393 minutes last season to led the team and 1,376 minutes in her freshman campaign for the second most.  She has appeared in all 47 matches since arriving to Loudonville with 44 starts. 
 
A MAAC All-Academic or MAAC Honor Roll member in each of her first two seasons, Vanderbosch carried a 3.94 GPA during her spring term and a 3.67 overall GPA in Accounting. 
 
The Leo Dufort Student Athlete of the Month Award is presented nine times annually (September-May) throughout the academic year. The award recognizes exemplary achievements in both academics and athletics. The late Leo Dufort received a B.S. in marketing and management from Siena in August of 1977. His entire academic career was completed on a part-time basis beginning in the spring of 1961, as a married adult while at the same time raising five children. He passed away suddenly of a heart attack while cross country skiing in February of 1993. His wife Jeanine wanted to do something to immortalize his memory. The original plaque was donated to athletics and the department began the Leo Dufort Student Athlete of the Month Award to help carry out his legacy. Dufort graduated from Catholic Central High School in 1954 and was a Navy Veteran (USS Bennington) who worked for JL Hammett Co. at the time of his death.