Siena Men’s Soccer opened its 47^th varsity season Thursday afternoon, falling in a closely contested road match at conference foe Rider. The Saints dropped a 1-0 result to the Broncs at Ben Cohen Field in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, with the contest marking the collegiate head coaching debut of Graciano Brito.

Playing in their first regular season competition in nearly 14 months, Siena featured eight players take the field for the first time in Green and Gold, including transfer Antonio La Gamba, redshirt freshman Niko Dimkopoulos, and true freshmen Bilal Hersi, Cam Shaw, Nick Fernandes, Jack Mendrysa, Salko Kanic, and Cole Hellert.

Rider started the match off by taking a quick lead, with Matt Araujo scoring from the low right in the third minute off a feed from Francisco Gomez Olano. The Broncs out-shot the Saints 14-4 on the afternoon, including 6-1 in shots on-goal and 7-3 in corner kicks.

Making his collegiate debut after playing for the Somalian U19 National Team during the offseason, freshman Bilal Hersi led Siena offensively, logging a pair of shots in 66 minutes at forward. Redshirt sophomore Antonio Linge and sophomore Luke Ferrari also recorded shots in the game, while junior goalkeeper Greg Monroe picked up five saves in his 14^th consecutive start in-between-the-pipes.

Siena will continue its Spring 2021 campaign with its home debut next week. The Saints will welcome conference rival Canisius to Hickey Field on Thursday, March 18, with kickoff scheduled for 3:00 PM.