FAIRFIELD, CT – When the Siena Men's Lacrosse team needed to come up with the big play, they made enough of them down the stretch to carry them onto the MAAC Championship for the second time in three seasons with a 15-14 thriller over Marist in an electric back-and-forth Conference Semifinal on Campus Field at Sacred Heart University on Thursday night.  

It was never easy for Siena (10-4), who were uncharacteristically minus nine on ground balls as a team and minus seven on face offs won and still emerged behind a stout defense in the fourth quarter that surrendered just one goal.

Senior Ryan McCarthy, the MAAC's top passer this year, switched roles and scored the final two goals.  And, when Siena was assessed a penalty late in the game, the Saints' defense came through and were able to kill the power play chance that Marist had punctuated by a save from veteran Andrew Arcuri that drew a roar from the Siena bench as they clang their lacrosse sticks against the bench in anticipation of the stop.  

Siena extended its win streak to eight, tying the longest its' had since a stretch in which the team won eight straight from March 14, 2012 through April 21, 2012.  
Among the seven ties and four lead changes, Siena trailed 5-3 after the first quarter and as late as 14-13 with 11:44 remaining when Drew Anderson found the back of the net.

But Siena held them scoreless for the remainder.

Earlier on, it was the likes of Conor Hufnagel (four goals, three assists), Patrick Radomski (three goals, two assists) and Travis Fry (three goals, one assist) who kept the Siena offense afloat.  Fry even had a goal where he drew contact and was suspended up in the air, cutting across the net, changing directions of his body as he sent the ball through the net.  

Hufnagel's seven points tied for the most points in a MAAC Tournament game with Bryan Neufeld's performance against Jacksonville in May of 2011 and Jack Kiernan's seven-pointer against Monmouth in April of 2021.

On defense, Andrew Arcuri made 11 saves including the sealer where he got his stick and made the winning deflection.  

In a match up that featured two of the conference's best face off win percentage specialists, the Red Foxes' Dylan Bedell was able to win his match up with freshman Logan Banek, winning 16-of-28 face offs.  

Pratt Reynolds scored twice including his 50th goal of the season, breaking Tony Asterino's single-season program record for goals he set back in 1979.  

Siena held a slim 41-40 advantage for shots, but Marist held a slight edge for shots on goal 25-23.

Marist (8-8) was paced by the MAAC's second points per game scorer in Collin Patrick (four goals) and Sean Mullan who had three goals and two assists.  

Siena will advance to play against top seed and host Sacred Heart (12-2) who defeated No. 6 Quinnipiac 18-11 earlier in the day. 

The game will be on ESPNU and first draw is set for 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.