Another game, another show put on by Michael Melkonian. His dominance this postseason has continued as he went 19-of-22 in this contest. Yorktown was over 75% from the faceoff X this season and has a great overall unit, which includes great wing play. But it didn’t phase Melkonian as he helped South Side dominate possession and allowed his team to play “make it, take it” lacrosse in the second half. Yorktown tried various things to throw off Melkonian, like putting a highly touted pole on the draw or double poling the wings but barely anything worked. Melkonian essentially didn’t allow these amazing Yorktown long poles to impact the X. His IQ and decision-making has been taken to a whole new level this postseason. When you have those traits combined with his athleticism and hand speed, it’s scary. He has won 92 percent of his face offs during this playoff run. 

Melkonian was a game-changer at the face-off X. He has had an incredible postseason run, which featured him going 15-of-17 vs. Carey and 22-of-23 against Manhasset for the county title. Against East Islip, he went 21-of-24 from the X and was named MVP. East Islip threw out different looks to try to disrupt Melkonian but it didn’t work. He had a talented Charlie Kalinowski hounding him the entire game, but Melkonian constantly secured possessions for his team. He won the majority of his faceoffs to himself with clean exits, showing off his speed once he got the ball. Melkonian is one of the best pure athletes you’ll see at the FOGO position in the country. He blazed by pressure and was able to either get a touch in the box or find one of his teammates easily. Melkonian helped South Side control this game and showed why he’s one of the top faceoff specialists in the country.