LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena and Sacred Heart, the last two MAAC Men's Lacrosse Champions, will take to Hickey Field for the Saints' Senior Day this Saturday at 12 p.m. with playoff implications at stake for prime positioning heading toward the MAAC postseason.

Both teams are receiving votes in the latest USILA and KANE Inside Lacrosse weekly polls. 

Siena (9-2, 5-0 MAAC) enters on a six-game winning streak, having earned a 24-7 road win at Iona last Saturday in what was a program-record 72 shot-performance by Siena. 

On the other side of the field are the Pioneers (10-1, 4-1 MAAC), who won their first 10 games of the season before dropping its' first game in a 16-14 tight defeat versus Quinnipiac last Saturday.

Siena defeated Sacred Heart 12-8 in last year's MAAC Championship in Fairfield, CT on the Pios' home field to claim their first title since 2014. Earlier last season, Sacred Heart had earned a thrilling 11-10 overtime home win over the Saints last March. The teams have split the previous six head-to-head match ups including a 13-11 home win by the Saints in a MAAC Quarterfinal Round in 2023.  Five of the last six games have been decided by four goals or fewer. 

Siena will have a large senior class that graduates this May. The roster contains 12 seniors including Patrick Linton, Gavin Blenk, Caden Olmstead, Vito DeBellis, Caden Kramer, Liam Lennon, Colby LeBlanc, Tyler Kuprianchik, Travis Fry, R.J. Ihlefeld, Caden Padelford and Xander Derkatz. Additionally, Conor Hufnagle and Riley Hegarty are graduate students. 

"This senior class has 37 wins as a group since they started here," said Siena first-year head coach Tim Cox.

"They've stuck together, been to two MAAC Championships and won the 2025 MAAC Championship."

The face off "X" will feature two of the MAAC's best with Pios' sophomore Ryan Grove (163 for 265; .615), and Siena sophomore Logan Banek (100 for 146; .685). Of the 13 MAAC weekly award this season for the Face Off Specialist of the Week, Grove (five times) and Banek (four times) have combined to win the award nine times. 

The two are also among the leaders in ground balls for the conference lead. Hanson ranks fourth with 6.82 per game) while Banek ranks first with 7.44 ground balls per game.

The Saints have had dual success with their face off specialists as senior Tyler Kuprianchik (64 for 120; .533) also ranks sixth in the conference in face off win percentage.

In goal, the Pioneers have relied upon Craig Daria, who ranks first in the conference in saves per game (12.91), third in goals-against-average (10.79) and is first in save percentage (.555). 

For the Saints, senior Vito DeBellis has been in net for the near entirety of the season and ranks first in goals against average, dipping below 10 with a 9.99 goals-against average, is ranked fourth in save percentage (.509) and is fifth in saves per game (10.00). 

Sacred Heart boasts the best scoring offense in the conference at 14.64 goals per game, first in assists per game (8.64), first in points per game (23.27), second in shots (46.18 per game) and is first in shots on goal per game (26.91) and is ranked first in shot percentage (.317). Jake Carney (25 goals) and John Murray (26) ranks fourth and fifth, respectively, in the conference in goals per game while Matt Pepe is ranked 10^th with 22 goals. 

Siena's offense ranks second in the MAAC with 154 goals scored as six players have scored at least 15 points including Patrick Radomski (51), Caden Olmstead (36), Conor Hufnagel (32), Travis Fry (27), Patrick Linton (20) and Gavin Blenk (15).

Siena has allowed the second fewest goals in the conference with 109 goals allowed while Sacred Heart is not far behind with the third fewest allowed with 115 goals allowed. The teams also represent the best in the MAAC when it comes to ground balls as the Saints rank first in the category with better than 36 ground balls gathered per game while the Pioneers are second with better than 33 ground balls per contest. 

The game can be watched on ESPN+. Chris Watson and David Franklin will be on the call with Joe Lemery working as the sideline reporter. 

Live stats can be followed here.

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