Siena Men's Lacrosse freshman attack Patrick Radomski scored the first goal to put the Saints on the board, but the lead was short lived as Sacred Heart responded with a flurry of seven consecutive goals and went on to defeat Siena 18-8 at Campus Field in the MAAC opener.

The Saints (2-4, 0-1 MAAC) were unable to slow the Pioneers' early momentum as Sacred Heart came out with a lot of energy and their shots found the mark, racing out to an 8-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.  It only increased in the second quarter as Sacred Heart took a 12-4 lead into the break.

The Pioneers (3-4, 1-0 MAAC) were led by a trio of players who all collected four points including Sal Miccio (two goals and two assists), James Moran (four goals) and Will Moulton (three goals, one assist). 

This was a match up that tilted in favor of the Saints last season as Siena had beaten Sacred Heart 11-8 in the regular season before eliminating them in the MAAC Quarterfinals with a 13-11 triumph. 

Despite drawing nearly even on face offs (14 of 30) and holding just a minus two disadvantage on ground balls (30-28), Siena was unable to draw closer in the second half. 

Caden Olmstead paced Siena with three goals for his fifth hat trick this season while Patrick Radomski was strong early on as the freshman totaled two goals and an assist. 

The Barbero brothers of the Saints were among some of the bright spots for Siena. 

Senior attack Rocco Barbero netted a career-best two goals while his brother and freshman Nikolas Barbero notched his first collegiate goal with 2:52 remaining in the game. 

Siena returns to action next Saturday, March 16 when they return home to host VMI (4-3, 0-1 MAAC) in conference play. 

The Keydets lost its conference opener to LIU 17-8 on Saturday. 

Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. at Hickey Field.

The game will be featured on ESPN+.