Chestnut Hill College Athletics

Michael Melnychenko '14 had four historic seasons (2011-2014) with the Chestnut Hill College men's lacrosse team as the prolific attack stands as the program's all-time leader in starts (T1^st, 54),points-per-game (3.80 PPG), goals (154), goals-per-game (2.85 GPG), shots (351), and man-up goals (26). His 205 points stood as the all-time points mark until broken during the 2022 season.  He joined the Scarlet and Gold one year after the program's founding and wasted little time establishing himself as a rare talent. Melnychenko led the NCAA DII in goals per game (3.57) with 50 tallies in his freshman season (2011). That year, he helped the Griffins to Top-5 victories over #2 Mercyhurst College (W, 8-7 (OT) on March 13) and #5 Dowling College (W, 14-13 on April 23) en route to East Coast Conference (ECC) Rookie of the Year honors and an All-ECC Honorable Mention. Melnychenko returned to the All-ECC Team as a Second Team honoree in his sophomore season (2012), when he was the conference's third-leading scorer with a team-high 36 goals. The 2013 Face-Off Yearbook DII Preseason All-American surpassed the 100-goal milestone and collected his third All-ECC honor with a second consecutive Second Team selection.
 
It was the first of back-to-back Chestnut Hill College Men's Lacrosse MVP (2013, 2014) seasons for him as his senior campaign (2014) included an All-ECC First Team and a United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division II All-America Second Team selections. Melnychenko finished the season among the top-15 in the ECC for goals (3^rd, 43), assists (T15^th, 14, points (6^th, 57), man-up goals (2^nd, 11), shots (9^th, 100), shooting percentage (14^th, 43-of-100, .430), and shots-on-goal (6^th, 71).
 
Melnychenko was a 2014 USILA All-American and a late addition to the USILA/Lax World DI/DII Senior North/South Game; he was names the exhibition's MVP after delivering four goals and an assist in the South's 17-16 victory (May 28, 2014.). Later, Melnychenko was drafted by the Buffalo Bandits (49^th pick, 6^th round) of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) in 2014 and signed a free agent contract with the league's five-time champion (1997, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2014) Rochester Knighthawks in 2015.