LOUDONVILLE, NY – The new season brings new experiences for the Siena Women's Lacrosse team as it will open the 2026 season hosting Hofstra of the Coastal Athletic Conference in a first-time meeting between the programs on Friday with a 2 p.m. opening draw at Hickey Field.
Siena, projected to finish third in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll among the field of 12 teams, is coming off a 9-9 season in which it reeled off seven consecutive victories before falling in the MAAC Semifinals to No. 2 Fairfield a year ago.
The Saints return 19 student athletes including standout juniors
Olivia Nicholson (led team with 33 goals in 2025) and
Cassidy Bonura (team-high 89 draw controls, 16 goals) as well as sophomores
Ryann Savage (14 caused turnovers, 11 ground balls) and
McAllister Salter (7-1 record as a goalkeeper with a 10.12 goals-against-average and 66 saves).
Siena has its eye on the MAAC Championship as its end goal, having reached at least the MAAC Semifinal Round in five of the previous seven seasons including three times in the championship game.
"I stressed to the girls that we haven't been together these last three weeks," said third-year Siena Women's Lacrosse head coach
Danielle Schwan-Tetreault.
"It's been since September and they all have taken that to heart. We have not only grown on the field in terms of the 'X's and O's', but off the field in terms of camaraderie in the locker room. Just really continuing to embrace the culture that has become really special to our locker room."
The Pride went 9-7 last season including 4-4 in the CAA where only the Top-Four teams qualified for the CAA Tournament.
Hofstra was projected to finish fifth in the CAA Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll behind last year's defending champion #17/#16 Stony Brook as well as Drexel, Towson and Elon.
The Pride's offense features a dynamic scorer in redshirt junior attack Nikki Mennella, who was named a USA Lacrosse Preseason All-American Honorable Mention.
Mennella ranked fifth in the NCAA in goals per game last season (4.13), 21
st in the country in assists per game (2.47) and was 12
th in shots per game (8.33).
Additionally, Mennella ranks 10
th all-time in school history in points (170), 12
th in goals (115) and is just outside of the Top-10 in assists (55).
Leading the defense, junior Christine Dannenfelser led the team in ground balls (42) and caused turnovers (24).
In net, senior Luchianna Cardello made 123 saves and held a 11.18 goals-against-average in 939 plus minutes of action.
The game will be streaming on
Siena All-Access with Tom Schwan on the play-by-play and Stephen Jones serving as the color commentator.
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.
