On October 2nd, Siena Men’s soccer traveled to Canisius College for their first conference game of the 2019 season. This game would end Siena’s three-game road trip and they finished off with a much-needed win. Alejandro Riquelme was the clear star with the defeat over the Canisius Golden Griffins. His dominant first-half performance cleared the way for the Saints to take the 3-1 win. It was a world-class game for Riquelme as Siena got their fourth win of the season!
Siena took a tough blow in the previous game against Cornell after obtaining two red cards in the second. The game ended in a 0-1 loss for the Saints, making their record 3-5 for the season. The Saints had to work on something if they wanted to end their next game on a win.
Alejandro Riquelme stood up to the challenge and took on a historic first half against the Golden Griffins. Starting in the 34th minute, Riquelme scored his first goal. Only two minutes later he scored again for the second time, assisted by Mark Sojer. Suddenly, Riquelme was able to complete a hat trick in the 41st minute of the game, assisted by Samuel Schwarz. Riquelme was able to complete a hat trick before the first half even ended! Within seven minutes of the game, Riquelme had scored three goals! His performance led the Saints to a 3-1 victory over the Golden Griffins and his work will be one to remember. Riquelme is the first Saint since 2010 to score a hat trick in Men’s Soccer. As impressive as the performance was, all credit cannot be given to him. It was a great team effort and goalkeeper, Greg Monroe, had seven saves on target. They were able to respond marvelously after their last defeat and proved themselves as a top contender in the conference.
The Saints are now at an impressive 4-5 record to start off the season. They are proving themselves to be a threat as they move their way up the MAAC standings. They are now placed 3rd in the conference with just Iona and Saint Peter’s ahead of them. Siena has shocked the conference since being placed in 10th out of eleven in the MAAC by Coach’s poll during the preseason of the 2019-20 year. The Golden Griffins are only 8th in the conference, however, so the Green and Gold should expect harder challenges in the future. Wish the Saints luck as they take on these next few opponents in the coming weeks. Go Saints!