LOUDONVILLE, NY – It's been just over a month to the exact day that the Siena Women's Lacrosse team overcame a three-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime and win in exuberant fashion on a
Taryn Asselin winning goal over a gamely Canisius squad in Western New York.
The teams will meet again on Sunday at noon at Hickey Field, but this time the No. 3 seeded Saints will host No. 6 seed Canisius in a MAAC Women's Lacrosse Opening Round match up.
The Saints will be making its fifth consecutive playoff appearance, 11
th overall, and its first playoff run under new head coach
Danielle Schwan-Tetreault, who was promoted from associate head coach to head coach in August of 2023.
The game is set to be broadcasted by ESPN+ with Chris Watson on the play-by-play, Tom Schwan on color commentary and Madison Jones on sideline reporting duties.
Siena (12-5) is 2-2 in the all-time playoff series with Canisius and won the last playoff meeting with the Golden Griffins by the score of 21-11 in 2021.
Canisius (11-6) leads the all-time series with Siena 17-13 overall.
Since the teams met on March 27, the Golden Griffins lost their next three games before winning three of its last four to find its way into the playoffs.
On the other side, Siena dropped a road game by a goal to Iona before reeling off a five-game winning streak for a second time this season before dropping a three-goal loss to #23 Fairfield last Saturday.
Canisius ranks first in the conference in clears with 306 successful on the season is one of the toughest teams to score on, ranking second in save percentage (.455) and is third in the MAAC in goals-against average at 10.03 per game.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jody Chu has been dependable overall in net, averaging 8.56 saves per game.
They're also backed up All-MAAC First Team selection Paige Stachura (midfield) Jillian Galanti (defense).
Stachura had 36 goals and seven assists and scored four times in the prior meeting with Siena. Gallanti ranks fifth in the MAAC in caused turnovers with 27.
Canisius also features the MAAC Rookie of the Year in Maddie Fitzgerald (27 goals, 27 draw controls, two winning goals).
Siena leads the MAAC in two team categories including most ground balls, averaging better than 14 per game, and does the best job of protecting the ball with a conference-low 12.18 turnovers per game. The Saints also rank second in goals-against average at 9.79 per game.
In leading the Saints, junior
Grace Dobrzynski was named to the All-MAAC First team as a attack after leading the conference in both assists (59) and points (83). Fellow junior
Kelly Logue has totaled a team-high 33 goals with 26 assists.
MAAC First Team selection
Taryn Asselin (at-large/specialist) set two program records for most draw controls in a season with 110 and also holds the mark for most draw controls in a game with 15.
Asselin is a dual threat in that she has 28 goals to go along with eight assists.
Siena won the draw controls battle with Canisius last time out 20-7 and it was a key factor in the Saints' overtime victory.
The winner will advance to the MAAC Semifinals set at top seed Fairfield on Friday with match ups yet to be determined based upon advancing seeds.
Fans can follow along with the corresponding live stats link, while continuous in-game updates will be provided via the women's lacrosse team's official "X" page @SienaWLAX.
Join the conversation by using the hashtags #MarchOn, #SienaSaints and #BigDawgs.
