Saints claim MAAC title
Unbeaten squad wins in shootout to clinch NCAA tourney berth
Siena women’s soccer player Emily Mcnelis said she had a feeling on Thursday.
She sensed the Saints were going to get to penalty kicks with Monmouth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game with a chance to knock out the fourtime defending champion.
When that moment really came on Friday, Mcnelis was up to the challenge. Her shot was the clincher as top-seeded Siena defeated Monmouth 4-2 on penalty kicks at Hickey Field.
“Basically, we’ve been practicing PKS for a really long time and getting ready for this moment,” said Mcnelis, a junior midfielder from Northport. “I had this idea we were going to go into PKS (Thursday) night, so I was so ready to go, so excited, I knew I was going to score. I looked at the goalie and shot it right corner.”
She beat Monmouth goalkeeper Rebecca Winslow, then turned and ran toward midfield and jumped into the arms of her celebrating teammates.
The Saints (6-0-2) earned their first MAAC title since 2015 and third overall.
While Mcnelis was named tournament Most Outstanding Player, the honor could also have gone to junior goalkeeper Leslie Adams. She made a career-high 12 saves as the game
remained tied 0-0 through regulation and two overtimes — a total of 110 minutes.
When penalty kicks began, Adams stopped Monmouth’s Maddison Perna and star senior Sarina Jones on the first two shots. Siena’s Rachel Sullivan and Deanna Lomino scored on theirs to put the Saints up 2-0.
Adams said being busy in regulation and overtime prepared her for the penalty kicks.
“I think it mentally helped me stay in the game,” Adams said. “I was sharp, composed, it was great.”
Siena scored on all four of its penalty kicks — Sullivan, Lomino, Darby D’angelo and Mcnelis.
Saints junior forward Carrie Krohn of Schoharie never had to attempt a penalty kick — she was sixth in the order — but it didn’t matter to her. She was happy to celebrate a championship at the school she stayed home to attend.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” she said. “We’ve worked really hard. We deserve this. Luck was on our side today, especially on the PKS. Leslie Adams came up big. Everyone who took the PK really made it count. I was really proud of us.”
Siena hadn’t beaten Monmouth since the 2015 MAAC semifinals. The Hawks had won 11 straight tournament matches since then, including a 7-1 victory over Siena in the 2018 final, which made Friday’s victory a little sweeter for the Saints.
“One hundred percent,” Adams said. “It was great beating their win streak, honestly.”
Third-seeded Monmouth (5-1-3) controlled the ball much of the day with advantages of 25-6 in shots and 17-2 on corner kicks. But many of the Hawks’ shots were from distance, where Adams could easily handle them.
“Leslie did a great job back there, had a lot of saves,” said Siena head coach Steve Karbowski, a Saints and Shenendehowa graduate. “We blocked some shots. We pressured some shots. So nothing real clean. I thought we did a great job defensively not reaching in, lunging in and making it tough on them.”
The Saints won their third MAAC title despite being picked eighth in the preseason coaches’ poll. They were also rewarded for their patience after the season was postponed from the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“They’re a tough group,” Karbowski said. “They’ve gone through a lot in the year-and-a-half since last season. Just all the stops, starts and pauses and delays. It’s tough mentally for them, but they kept themselves together and focused on this goal.”
The Saints are the first Siena athletic team to reach the NCAA Tournament since men’s golf in 2016. They’ll find out Monday at 1 whom they’ll play in the NCAA Tournament, which is being held entirely in North Carolina starting on April 27 and 28.