LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Time and time again, the Siena men’s lacrosse team seems to find another gear late in the season. Over the last three years, the Saints are 11-4 in the month of April. They’ll need to summon more of that mojo this weekend to keep their season afloat.
Siena begins MAAC Tournament play Saturday as the five-seed, and faces a daunting task in the opening round with fourth-seeded Marist, a team the Saints haven’t beaten since 2014.
The Red foxes bested Siena in last year’s MAAC championship game, and won a meeting in Poughkeepsie just two weeks ago.
But the Saints are riding a serious high after their remarkable comeback win against Manhattan, and last weekend’s 10-goal second-half run to put away Mount St. Mary’s.
They’re feeling confident, and welcome the challenge the defending champs pose.
“We’re licking out chops for this rematch,” said sophomore attack Caden Olmstead, Siena’s leading point scorer. “We hit a bunch of pipes in that last game that really, you know, set us off track in the beginning of the first half. But yeah, we’re excited for the rematch, and ready to kick some tail.”
Marist is the only team in the conference Saints head coach Liam Gleason has not beaten since his arrival in 2018.
“[We] can compete with anybody in the conference,” said Gleason. “So…we knew whoever we drew, it was going to be a competitive game. But we’re certainly looking forward to getting another shot at them. It’s always an exciting game between us and them. The fans show up. The atmosphere is always, always electric. It’s an exciting game. It’s one of those [games] where…we try not to put too much more on it than any other game. But there’s definitely just an internal motivation to get your rival.”
It’ll be another battle under the lights between the two I-87 rivals. A 7:00 p.m. faceoff is slated on ESPN+.