Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/4/14
From Press Release
Goalie Joe Donnelly (Radnor) made 19 saves and Michael Melnychenko (St. Catharines, Ontario) had three goals and an assist as Chestnut Hill College collected its first men’s lacrosse win of the 2014 season today in an 11-9 victory at the College of St. Rose.
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).
Senior midfielder Zachary Donnelly (Radnor) registered two goals and senior midfielder Mark Winkelspecht (Parkland) provided 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.
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