LOUDONVILLE, NY – Gabriella Cuevas scored her first two goals of the season off a pair of first half corner kicks to propel defending MAAC Champion and league frontrunner Monmouth over Siena Women’s Soccer 3-1 at Siena Field. Senior captain Michele Tremblay scored for the Saints in the Senior Day defeat.

 

The marquee MAAC matchup featuring the past two conference champions and top-two teams in the league standings lived up to its billing. An exciting first half featured 20 combined shots and three goals between the squads.

 

Monmouth (10-3-2, 7-1) took control early with Cuevas staking the Hawks to a 2-0 advantage midway through the first half. But Tremblay responded in the 27^th minute when she roofed home her second goal of the season over Monmouth keeper Amanda Knaub.

 

The second half was more tightly contested with fewer chances between the teams. Siena (9-7, 5-4) pushed hard for the tying goal late, but the Hawks’ Rachelle Ross added a back-breaking insurance score off a counter with 81 seconds remaining to snap the Saints’ five-match win streak.

 

Monmouth held a 19-13 advantage in shots and an 8-3 margin in corners to inch closer to a fifth MAAC Regular Season Championship in five seasons since joining the conference.

 

Sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Dorado made six saves for Siena which has now dropped five of six all-time meetings between the programs.

 

Knaub also stopped six shots for the Hawks which improved to an astounding 42-3-3 all-time in MAAC Regular Season action.

 

The Saints wrap up regular season action Wednesday with a 4 p.m. kickoff at Rider, before preparing for the MAAC Championships which are set to be held Oct. 28 – Nov. 1 at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.