In 2012, Siena cruised through the MAAC, finishing the regular season unbeaten in conference play while holding a plus-43 goal differential in the regular season. In the MAAC Tournament that season, though, the Saints powered down into low drive, slipping past Marist in the semifinals and falling to Canisius in the tournament final (Siena built a 9-6 lead at the intermission and were held scoreless in the second half).
In 2013, Siena pushed past Jacksonville with relative ease in the MAAC Tournament semifinals but had a disastrous effort in the final, falling to Detroit in overtime after holding a four-goal lead at the break. The Saints seemed cursed under John Svec, unable to cross the bridge spanning the MAAC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. After the team's 11-7 win against Marist on the Red Foxes' home field, however, the Saints have erased the memories of two opportunities lost in recent years.
In a dominating performance that featured Siena holding Marist scoreless for two big stretches -- the first was for 20:12, starting with 11 seconds remaining in the first quarter and ending on a Joseph Radin goal just over five minutes into the third period; the second stretch was for 11:01, starting after a Colin Joka goal with 1:44 remaining in the third period and ending on a Gannon Osborn bucket with 5:43 remaining in regulation -- and timely, strung together scoring from an offense that received combustion from Colin Clive (3G), Jordan Barlow (3G, 1A), Richie Hurley (2G, 1A), and Kyle Curry (1G, 4A), Siena stormed Tenney Stadium en route to an impressive effort that reflected the Saints' position in the MAAC hierarchy in 2014. The Red Foxes never seriously challenged the Saints, falling behind by two goals early, yielding four consecutive goals in the second period that forced Marist into a five-goal deficit at the half, and only jabbing the Saints occasionally in the second half (the Red Foxes outscored Siena in the penultimate quarter -- 4-2 -- but the fourth period quickly moved in the Saints' favor after getting two goals in the period's first 5:31).
Tommy Cordts finished an impressive day in the crease for Siena with 13 saves, while Marist's Dave Scarcello had 15 for the Foxes.
TRUNCATED ADVANCED BOX SCORE
METRIC | MARIST | SIENA |
Possession Margin | -3 | +3 |
Raw Offensive Efficiency | 21.21 | 30.56 |
Raw Offensive Shooting Rate | 18.42% | 28.21% |
Shots per Offensive Opportunity | 1.15 | 1.08 |
Run-of-Play Groundballs per 100 Possessions | 33.33 | 26.09 |
Saves per 100 Defensive Opportunities | 41.67 | 39.39 |
Team Save Percentage | 57.69% | 65.00% |