Melnychenko Makes Second Straight ECC Honor Roll Appearance
Central Islip, N.Y. - (3/3/2014) – Michael Melnychenko (St. Catharines, Ontario) recorded seven points and three ground balls in Saturday’s, March 1, Battle of the Griffins to earn his second straight appearance on the East Coast Conference (ECC) Weekly Honor Roll. The Griffins senior attack scored four of his six goals in the first half, doing his part to keep the contest tied 5-5 at intermission. Unfortunately, the visitor’s third quarter outweighed a late Griffin rally that left the final spread at two, 14-12.
With 13 of 23 penalties coming in the opening half, Chestnut Hill College (0-2) and #6 Seton Hill University (SHU) (3-0) were challenged by the whistle as much as they were by each other. SHU was first on the scoreboard with senior midfielder Jimmy Cogley (Peters Township, Pa.) tallying the contest’s first tally at 11:44, 1-0. Less than thirty seconds later (11:17), senior midfielder
Zachary Donnelly (Newtown Square, Pa.) tied the contest at 1-1 and after that a Melnychenko extra-man goal put the Griffins in the lead, 2-1 at 8:01. But SHU would score twice in the final two minutes of the quarter, 1:42 and 1:24, to hold a 3-2 advantage heading to the second frame. They would hold a 5-3 lead heading to the final 11 minutes (11:12) of the half, but that’s when Melnychenko netted another man-up goal, 5-4 at 10:19, and an unassisted score, 5-5 at 6:58, would leave the contest tied heading to intermission, 5-5. After the break, a fifth Melnychenko goal would give the Griffins a short-lived 6-5 (13:16, 3
rd) advantage but SHU would score seven straight to leave the home team down 12-6 with 12:12 left in the contest. The Griffins outscored SHU the rest of the way, 6-2, but time ran out on the rally in a 14-12 final.
With the effort, Melnychenko tied a career-high for goals in a single game (6). He currently ranks fourth in the league for goals (10) while leading the Griffins in points (11), goals, man-up goals (6), and shots (18).
The men’s lacrosse team plays next on Tuesday, March 4, when they travel to the College of St. Rose for a 3:00 p.m. contest.
