Gretta Dry scored the lone goal in the 54^th minute as Canisius shutout Siena Women’s Soccer 1-0 in Buffalo on the final day of the regular season. The Saints had previously locked up the No. 2 seed and a Tournament bye to the MAAC Semifinals, and will open their title defense next Friday, Nov. 4 in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

 

Siena (9-6-3, 7-3), which despite the loss tied the program record for regular season conference victories with seven set in 2004, will begin their quest for a third MAAC Championship against the highest advancing seed from Saturday’s quarterfinal round matches. Monmouth, by virtue of winning their fourth straight MAAC Regular Season Championship, will again host the semifinal and championship rounds.

 

Canisius (8-8, 6-4) will be the No. 5 seed and travel to face fourth seeded Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal round contest Saturday in Connecticut. All six MAAC Tournament berths had previously been clinched prior to Wednesday’s regular season finales, with only seeding for the four teams participating in the quarterfinals left to be decided.

 

The Saints held slim edges in both shots (12-10) and corners (4-2), although their red-hot offense was shutout for just the second time in the past 12 matches. Junior midfielder Michele Tremblay paced Siena with four shots, while freshman striker Amber Alfonzo added three.

 

Sophomore goalkeeper Kamryn Peffley made five saves for the Saints, while her counterpart Alana Rossi stopped two shots to record the clean sheet for the Golden Griffins.

 

Siena will now have nine days to prepare for its yet-to-be-determined semifinal opponent. Since 2010, the Saints have won more MAAC Tournament matches than any other conference foe in posting a stellar 7-2 record while capturing their first two titles (2010, 2015). Siena’s No. 2 seed ties for the program’s highest ever (2004, 2009).