Siena players unhappy with firing of coach
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. » Siena announced the hiring of Abigail Rehfuss to be the head coach of its women’s lacrosse program on Monday morning. She took the job after coaching Shaker High School the past two seasons. The Latham native compiled a 23-10 overall record and won a Section II title.
But what Siena didn’t announce was that it fired three-year head coach Bryana Borrelli on October 4, two hours after a fall practice ended.
The team is four months removed from playing its last game, and about four months away from playing its next game. The firing was not announced publicly by the college, and the school declined to acknowledge that she was fired. Instead, Siena insists they “parted ways.”
Student-athletes on the women’s lacrosse team have publicly voiced their support of Borrelli in a social media post.
“Myself and 26 of my best friends currently feel deserted by the athletic department at our school,” wrote junior forward Julia Sardella in a Facebook post, days after Borrelli was fired. “Our athletic department stripped her of what her life revolved around. Without any explanation, we were told that ‘change was made’ two hours after we ended practice that day. Furthermore, we were told nothing sudden or unforeseen had happened that week or recently. Coach Borrelli, our assistant coaches, and all of my teammates were blindsided by this hasty action.”
Siena athletic director John D’Argenio declined an interview request for this story but did provide a statement.
“Siena College recently parted ways with former women’s lacrosse head coach Bryana Borrelli,” D’Argenio wrote. “Due to College policy and in respect of the confidentiality and privacy of all parties involved, we cannot comment further on the reasons. While no time is ever ideal to make a coaching change, we are excited for Coach Rehfuss to lead our women’s lacrosse program.”
Rehfuss coached the last two seasons down the road at Shaker High School, but has no Division I coaching experience. She said in a statement that she is “thrilled” to take over at Siena.
Rehfuss played Division I lacrosse at Loyola University in Maryland, and graduated in 2011. She still plays semi-professional women’s lacrosse. And current players say she’s well-versed in the rule changes being implemented this season.
“Any time you’re a new head coach entering a new situation there are always going to be various challenges,” Rehfuss said in a written statement. “But I truly feel we have a great group of young women, and I’m looking forward to working with them in pursuit of a MAAC Championship.”
As for why no formal announcement of Borrelli’s departure was made, the school said it is not current practice for Siena to announce coaching departures outside of their major revenue sports.
“No answers were really given,” said a different current Siena women’s lacrosse player, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “So we were just a little bit confused. I think that we’re still in that phase.
“We kind of got blindsided by the whole thing. You lose a little bit of trust in our athletic department.”
Borrelli coached Siena for three seasons, compiling an 18-33 overall record during that time.
The Siena athletic department wouldn’t address if there were any complaints about Borrelli.
According to the team, 26 of 28 players wore purple ribbons in support of Borrelli, which is her favorite color. Others have worn t-shirts saying they “Play for Bry.”
The player said getting a justifiable reasoning for the firing from the college is “the piece that’s missing.” She also noted that “it’s hard for us to wrap our brains around when there’s not much justification for it.”