LOUDONVILLE, NY – It's good to be home. Following encouraging results during a season-opening four-match road trip, Siena Women's Soccer is set to finally make its 2024 Capital Region debut with an equally-lengthy, season-long four-match homestand to kickoff the month of September. The Saints start things off when they host St. Thomas (MN) for a non-conference tilt Sunday at 1 p.m. at Hickey Field.
 
Siena (2-2) returns to Loudonville following August road victories over Bryant (1-0) and Le Moyne (3-1) to highlight the season-opening 14-day trip.
 
Underclassmen have been at the forefront of the success early on, with freshman Catherine Rogers (three goals) and reigning MAAC Rookie of the Year Megan Stowell (one goal) accounting for all of the scoring. Rogers assisted on Stowell's match-winning tally Thursday at Le Moyne, as the freshman has factored in the scoring on all four goals so far on the young season. Classmate Cate Burns has started each of the past three matches in goal as a part of a lineup which has featured seven underclassmen starters in at least three of the four matches thus far.
 
The Saints are looking to continue to build off of their stellar performance against the Dolphins in Central New York last time out. Siena scored all three of its goals during a 7:46 flurry midway through the first half, matching the program's highest scoring stanza since erupting for five goals in the first half of the Spring 2021 COVID season-opener vs. Iona on Mar. 25, 2021. The Saints out-shot Le Moyne 17-5 while holding an 9-2 margin in corners.
 
Siena now makes its 2024 Capital Region debut against an un-common foe in St. Thomas, as the Saints face their first-ever opponent both from the State of Minnesota as well as the Summit League. While Sunday will mark Siena's 753^rd all-time match, it will only be the program's sixth-ever vs. a school geographically located west of the Mississippi River and first contested in Loudonville. The Saints most recently faced Arizona State in the 2020-21 COVID-year NCAA Tournament in Greenville, North Carolina.
 
Known as "The Tommies," St. Thomas (1-2-1) is wrapping up an East Coast swing against MAAC schools following a 1-0 victory at Marist Thursday night.
 
Siena continues its season-long four-match homestand – the first three matches of which will be played in the span of just seven days – with non-conference action vs. Vermont on Wednesday before kickoff of league play against Iona next Saturday and Mount St. Mary's (Sept. 14) to wrap up the homestand.
 
The Saints will be facing familiar non-conference foe Vermont for the 19^th time – including the 17^th time in the past 21 seasons – in a tight series in which Siena holds a 9-7-2 edge.
 
Siena kicks off its 33^rd season of Metro Atlantic Athletic competition with its pair of home matches against Iona and Mount St. Mary's. The Saints have dominated the Gaels, winning 13 straight overall while outscoring Iona by a 33-9 margin. Moreover, Siena is also unbeaten spanning its past 14 home matches against the Gaels (12-0-2), featuring a 37-8 scoring advantage. Iona has not defeated the Saints in over a decade (1-0 on Oct. 19, 2013 in New Rochelle), and has not won in Loudonville since Oct. 22, 2000 (1-0 in double overtime).
 
Each of the first three matches during Siena's season-long four-match homestand will be broadcast on ESPN+ - which can be viewed by clicking the corresponding link – with the matchup vs. The Mount airing on Siena All-Access. Fans can also follow along via the live stats and on-site social media updates through the Siena Women's Soccer X (formerly Twitter) account @SienaWSoccer.