For the third time in six road matches this season, Siena Women’s Soccer scored the tying goal with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. And on Wednesday night the third time was a charm for the Saints as they then went on to score the golden goal just 98 seconds into overtime to shock MAAC rival Marist 2-1 in Poughkeepsie.

 

Junior midfielder Madison Vasquez tied the match with just 17 seconds remaining in regulation, and sophomore midfielder Gabby Albano won it 1:55 later for surging Siena (5-3-3, 3-0) which ran its unbeaten streak to five on the strength of its fourth straight win.

 

The late dramatics are nothing new for the Saints which matched their exact same outcome as Saturday – a come-from-behind 2-1 conference road win in overtime – to open 3-0 in the league for the first time since the program’s MAAC Championship season of 2010.

 

Following a scoreless first half, Marist (4-6, 0-2) got on the board first in the 50^th minute on a Camille Bowen score. The Red Foxes would cling to that tally into the waning moments, before Siena c more late magic.

 

Senior back Tara Sobierajski quickly lined up a free kick from close to 40 yards out which she blasted off the crossbar. The ball bounced straight down to an unmarked Vasquez who was all alone on the doorstep to put in the rebound. The assist was the 19^th of Sobierajski’s career, moving her into sole possession of second place in program history and just one off Caitlin Cahalan’s ’12 record of 20.

 

This wasn’t the first time that Vasquez was the centerpiece of a last minute comeback. In fact, it marked the third time in her career that she scored either the match-tying or winning goal in the final minute of regulation. The Saints began their current unbeaten streak Sept. 9, when Vasquez scored the tying goal with 52 seconds remaining in regulation to earn Siena a 1-1 draw at Vermont. Last season, she scored the game-winner with just 15.4 seconds left in the Saints’ 3-2 win over the Catamounts in Loudonville.

 

Infused with new life, Siena wasted little time in delivering the death knell. Junior midfielder Michele Tremblay played a ball into the right corner to sophomore midfielder Meghan Riccardi. She ran onto the ball and crossed it towards the far left post to Albano whose header went off the keeper and trickled across the goal line as the now familiar site of the Saints racing onto the field to celebrate ensued.

 

Freshman goalkeeper Taylor Dorado made a season-high seven saves for Siena which has won nine in row overall against MAAC goes, including seven straight in regular season action.

 

The Saints harbored narrow margins in both shots (13-11) and corners (3-2) in running their unbeaten streak against the rival Red Foxes to five (4-0-1). Makala Foley stopped five shots for Marist.

 

The Saints return to action Wednesday when they host Niagara at Siena Field for a 3 p.m. kickoff.