Syracuse Lacrosse: Orange Take Two ACC Weekly Honors

The Atlantic Coast Conference released its weekly award winners on Monday. The Syracuse Orange picked up two of those honors. The ACC named senior Dylan Donahue the Conference's Offensive Player of the Week. Donahue had a career high in assists and points with five and nine respectively. Of course his four goals were not too shabby either. His performance against the Siena Saints was easily a top personal performance.

On the defensive side of the field, the ACC named co-Defensive Players of the Week. The Duke Blue Devils' Kyle Rowe and SU's Nick Mellen split the week one award. Rowe, Duke's primary faceoff weapon, only sat out for five faceoffs in Duke's two games last week, pulling in a 66% faceoff winning percentage in the two matchups.

Meanwhile, Nick Mellen was playing in his first ever collegiate contest. The freshman was widely praised coming into the season and he certainly did not disappoint. Against Siena, Mellen picked up six groundballs and caused four turnovers, leading all players on Siena and Syracuse in both categories. The close defender faced Jordan Barlow throughout the game and held the Siena standout without a point. There are few players who come out of the gate like Mellen did on Saturday. Personally, the only defensive player I remember impressing as much in his first game was when Brian Megill made his debut against the Denver Pioneers back in 2010.

The Syracuse Orange faceoff with the Albany Great Danes at 4 PM on Sunday, February 21 in the Carrier Dome. The game can be seen on TWCS, ESPN3 and can be heard on TK99. Of course you can also follow me @Orangelax for game updates.