LOUDONVILLE, NY – It will be a matchup of Capital Region Division I Men's Lacrosse Conference Champions.

The USILA No. 20 ranked Siena Men's Lacrosse team (11-4) – winners of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Association (MAAC) – and the RV/No. 19 UAlbany Great Danes (9-8) – winners of the America East Conference – will meet for the first time in a NCAA postseason game in an opening round game at Casey Stadium on Wednesday at 7 p.m. 

The winner will face No. 1 Cornell (14-1) in the NCAA Second Round Sunday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York. 

The Saints extended its winning streak to nine consecutive games after a 12-8 win over then #16/#19 Sacred Heart in the MAAC Championship this past Saturday, the longest winning streak it has had since a stretch from March 21, 2009 through May 3, 2009, in which the team won 10 straight games.

Siena has won four MAAC Championships with the previous titles coming in 2009, 2011, and 2014. Siena has only played Cornell once, back in a 17-9 defeat in 2013. 

The Great Danes got to this position by topping Bryant 12-7 in Smithfield, RI this past Saturday as well in the America East Championships. UAlbany enters on a six-game win streak, having won its 11^th AE title and second straight. Ironically, its last loss came at #1 Cornell 18-11 on April 1. 

The game will be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats can be followed here. Tickets may be purchased here. 

For live updates, highlights and other news, follow Siena Men's Lacrosse on "X" @SienaLacrosse.

UAlbany leads Siena 28-11 in the all-time series history. The teams have met in scrimmages over the past few years, but last time that it counted as a 11-7 win for UAlbany on March 2, 2022.

Reynolds, the Saints' senior attack who now holds the single-season record for most goals in a year with 55 and counting, scored three goals during his freshman season against UAlbany in that game. The only other Saints who are still active from that team include Mark Cummins, Andrew Rooney, Matt Edell, Jack Cavaioli and Sean Miller.

The game has a built-in storyline from the backgrounds of the Saints' coaching staff. 

Three of the four coaches on the Saints coaches are alumni of UAlbany with current head coach Liam Gleason connecting the pipeline between the schools over the last couple decades, first serving as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator under Brian Brecht for three seasons at Siena from 2008-2010.

Coach Gleason helped orchestrate one of the most definitive three-year runs in Saints history, culminating with its first NCAA Tournament berth in 2009. After a stint with starting up the Saint Rose lacrosse program, coach Gleason previously helped UAlbany as an associate coach to peak rankings of No. 4 nationally in both 2016 and 2017. And, in 2018, UAlbany tied a program record with 16 wins and reached the NCAA Semifinals for the first time in school history. 

Assistant coach Tim Cox, class of 2015, was also a former standout midfielder at UAlbany, leading the Great Danes to three American East titles and a pair of NCAA Tournament victories.

Assistant coach Derrick Eccles also joined the Saints from UAlbany, where he was a four-year letterwinner, a representative of the USILA North-South Game his senior year and a 2016 graduate. 

The Saints are averaging a league-best 14.00 goals per game, 8.88 assists per game, 22.88 points per game as well as the second-best shots on goal per game average (25.75) as well as the league's second-best penalty-killing percentage squad at .739. 

The Great Danes match up well with the Saints and they also ranked first in goals per game (12.41), second in assists per game (7.35), first in points per game (19.76).  The Great Danes also had the best penalty-killing percentage of all the teams at .829. 

Ryan Doherty (42 goals) and Silas Richmond (39 goals) have been a potent 1-2 punch for the Great Danes offense while the Saints have been led by Reynolds (55 goals), Conor Hufnagel (33 goals) and Patrick Radomski (31 goals). 

In the face off "X", Siena freshman Logan Banek enters as the MAAC Face off Specialist of the Year, MAAC Rookie of the Year and MAAC First Team selection.   

Banek is the MAAC's top win percentage taker with those who have taken at least 100 face offs (.615) while the Great Danes' Jazayd Hall has won on .413 of his takes. 

Protecting the cage, the projected goalkeepers match up features Saints graduate student Andrew Arcuri (9.67 GAA, .559 save percentage and 181 saves) while the Great Danes keeper Brady Smith had a big season as well (11.03 GAA, .486 save percentage, and 141 saves).   

Siena Men's Lacrosse is 0-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament history.  

Siena Baseball is the last team among all Siena College programs to earn a NCAA Tournament win – defeating then #28/RV Dallas Baptist on May 31, 2014.