Box Score Albany, N.Y. - (3/4/2014) – Chestnut Hill College collected their first win of the 2014 season with Michael Melnychenko (St. Catharines, Ontario) leading the Griffins to a 11-9 victory at the College of St. Rose this afternoon. The Griffins senior attack scored the first goal of a 4-0 Griffin first quarter which began a string of scoring runs and left the Golden Knights on short side of a two-goal deficit.
 
Freshman midfielder Joseph Pozniak (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) took the opening faceoff the length of the field, but it was Melnychenko who scored the game's first goal on a feed from junior midfielder Christopher Mertens (Freeport, N.Y.) at 14:36, 1-0. But despite Chestnut Hill College (1-2) outscoring the College of St. Rose (0-2) 4-0 in the period, the contest knotted at 4-4 when the Golden Knights completed a second-quarter run that brought all things even with 8:51 remaining in the first half. In response, Melnychenko and Mertens each scored before intermission, giving the Griffins a 6-4 halftime edge with tallies at 7:20, 5-4, and 6:29, 6-4, respectively. The turn taking continued in the second half with the Golden Knights scoring the first two goals of the third quarter, 6-6 at 13:04, and the Griffins the last two, 8-6 at 0:42. Except the Griffin run would carry over to the fourth quarter where a 3-3 frame left the final score in their favor, 11-9.
 
Senior attack Brett McAuliffe (Watertown, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Ryan McFee (Greenwich, N.Y.) each recorded two goals, but it was a goal and two assists from junior attack Colin Sober (Syracuse, N.Y.) that led the Golden Knights offensive production. Junior defenseman Jake Files (Syracuse, N.Y.) and freshman goalkeeper Joe Shapiro (Syracuse, N.Y.) highlighted their backfield effort; Files recorded four ground balls and four caused turnovers while Shapiro collected nine saves and three ground balls in the loss (0-2).
 
Melnychenko's four-point effort, three goals and an assist, was supported by multiple-point performances from five other Griffins with senior midfielder Zachary Donnelly (Newtown Square, Pa.) registering two goals and senior midfielder Mark Winkelspecht (Laurys Station, Pa.) providing two assists, while Mertens and junior midfielders, Michael Landau (Lancaster, Pa.) and Joseph Caramante (East Meadow, N.Y.), each offered a goal and an assist. Pozniak was 11-of-22 (.500) in the faceoff circle and recovered three ground balls while senior Christopher Schaffer (Lititz, Pa.) and sophomore Derick Darnulc (Baldwin, N.Y.) captained the defensive effort, splitting six ground balls and combining for five caused turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Joseph Donnelly (Newtown Square, Pa.) made 19 saves and recovered four ground balls in the win (1-2).
  
The men's lacrosse team returns home to host the New York Institute of Technology in a 1:00 p.m. East Coast Conference (ECC) contest on Saturday, March 8.