The Siena women’s lacrosse team came so far this season, only to have its record-breaking offense misfire with a championship on the line.
The No. 2 seed Saints were held to their second-fewest goals of the year in a 12-8 loss to No. 1 Fairfield in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title game Sunday in Fairfield, Conn. Siena was denied its first MAAC championship.
The loss snapped an eight-match winning streak for the Saints (11-3), who had scored at least 13 goals in every game during that stretch. They poured in a combined 41 goals in tournament wins over Canisius and Monmouth, including a MAAC-record 21 against the Golden Griffins.
“No, I don’t think the moment was too big,” Siena coach Abby Rehfuss said. “We had some uncharacteristic decisions in the first half where it was almost too casual, and then it just kind of kept the door open for Fairfield. Then in the second half we were just struggling to score. We got some really good looks, and their goalie (Olivia Conquest) made a couple of great saves, and when we were watching her save the ball, we started forcing the wrong issue at certain points.”
Fairfield (13-1) avenged its only loss this season, a 15-11 home defeat April 10. The Stags also won their third consecutive MAAC title and beat Siena in the second straight final.
Fairfield edged the Saints 10-9 in overtime in the 2019 title game. There was no tournament last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Siena was determined to reverse that result Sunday, which only made the disappointment that much more acute in the postgame locker room, particularly for Siena’s nine seniors.
“It was pretty emotional,” said Siena senior midfielder Kerry Gerety of Guilderland. “Especially when our coaches were talking to us and for the senior class that won’t be coming back, it’s really emotional because we’ve been through this whole process together from the start in turning this program around and it’s been so nice to be a part of that.”
Gerety said she hasn’t decided to return for the extra year of eligibility players are allowed because of the coronavirus pandemic. When she arrived, the Saints were coming off a 1-15 season in 2017 and had just hired Rehfuss, a Shaker High graduate.
The Saints went 5-12 in Rehfuss’ first season, but she gradually upgraded the talent on the roster. This season, she had one of only two teams – Notre Dame was the other – with five players with 100 career points.
Siena appeared on its way to another scoring deluge on Sunday when it opened a 4-1 lead just 7:28 into the match. But the Saints managed only two goals the rest of the first half and went into intermission down 8-6.
It got no better in the second half as the Saints only scored twice.
“It was pretty tough,” Gerety said. “We had a lot of turnovers that I don’t think we’ve had in previous games, and it was hard to come back. I don’t think we really played as much as a team as we did in the previous two tournament games.”
Annie Brennan, Kaitlyn Dowsett, Nicole McNeely and Gerety each scored twice for Siena. Mary Soures, who led Siena with 44 goals, was held scoreless.
“I think Mary just didn’t have her best game today, for whatever reason,” Rehfuss said.
Rehfuss said her “heart absolutely breaks” for the seniors who didn’t have a chance to close their careers with a title. But she fully expects the Saints will be in the final next year.
“Like I said to our senior group, it’s now an expectation because of all the work they’ve done to create this winning culture here at Siena,” Rehfuss said. “They’ve just been tremendous leaders and our goal isn’t just to make it to a MAAC championship an NCAA Tournament. Our goals is to have success and sustain that success through the years.”
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Siena women's lacrosse comes up short in MAAC championship - Times Union
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