Byrnes, Melillo and Wagner set for MLL Championship Weekend
10/2/2019 4:08:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Three former Golden Eagles and MU’s volunteer assistant will play Friday night in Denver
MILWAUKEE – Former Marquette University men's lacrosse players Liam Byrnes, Zachary Melillo and John Wagner will participate in Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend in Denver, beginning with Friday's semifinals.
Byrnes and Wagner square off in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. Central time as the Atlanta Blaze and Chesapeake Bayhawks kickoff semifinal action. Melillo's Denver Outlaws squad will follow that matchup with a 9 p.m. game against the Boston Cannons.
Both semifinal contests air live on ESPNews from Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, site of the 2016 BIG EAST Men's Lacrosse Championship, where the MU trio helped the Golden Eagles to their first conference title over then-No. 1 Denver.
Sunday's MLL Championship game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado is slated for Sunday, Oct. 6 at noon on ESPN2. Â
Byrnes, a USILA Second Team All-American and the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year as a senior at Marquette in 2016, is in his fourth professional season and is a finalist for the MLL Defensive Player of the Year award. The defenseman leads the league in caused turnovers (30) with six more than the second-ranked player and is tops among all MLL defensemen and long-stick midfielders with 64 ground balls. Recent MU graduate and NLL first round pick Tanner Thomson also played two games with the Blaze earlier this summer.
Wagner has played in nine of Chesapeake's 16 games as a rookie and has recorded 13 points on nine goals and four assists. The St. Davids, Ontario native graduated in May third all-time in points (109) and tied for second in goals (77) in Marquette history. He was a two-time all-conference performer and only the second player in BIG EAST history to twice be honored as the league's scholar-athlete of the year for men's lacrosse.
Melillo has seen action in two games for the Outlaws this season and leads the team with a .655 winning percentage (19-of-29). He is MU's all-time leader in face-off wins (464) and winning percentage (.551) and was a three-time all-conference performer.
Current Marquette volunteer assistant coach Brendan Kavanagh is in his rookie season with the Outlaws and is fourth on the squad with 37 points (21 goals, 16 assists).
Defenseman B.J. Grill is the lone former MU player to have won the Steinfeld Cup, having claimed the MLL championship with the Outlaws as a rookie in 2016.
Keep up with the Marquette men's lacrosse program through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteMLax) and Instagram (@MarquetteMLax) and 'liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteMLax).
Byrnes and Wagner square off in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. Central time as the Atlanta Blaze and Chesapeake Bayhawks kickoff semifinal action. Melillo's Denver Outlaws squad will follow that matchup with a 9 p.m. game against the Boston Cannons.
Both semifinal contests air live on ESPNews from Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, site of the 2016 BIG EAST Men's Lacrosse Championship, where the MU trio helped the Golden Eagles to their first conference title over then-No. 1 Denver.
Sunday's MLL Championship game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado is slated for Sunday, Oct. 6 at noon on ESPN2. Â
Byrnes, a USILA Second Team All-American and the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year as a senior at Marquette in 2016, is in his fourth professional season and is a finalist for the MLL Defensive Player of the Year award. The defenseman leads the league in caused turnovers (30) with six more than the second-ranked player and is tops among all MLL defensemen and long-stick midfielders with 64 ground balls. Recent MU graduate and NLL first round pick Tanner Thomson also played two games with the Blaze earlier this summer.
Wagner has played in nine of Chesapeake's 16 games as a rookie and has recorded 13 points on nine goals and four assists. The St. Davids, Ontario native graduated in May third all-time in points (109) and tied for second in goals (77) in Marquette history. He was a two-time all-conference performer and only the second player in BIG EAST history to twice be honored as the league's scholar-athlete of the year for men's lacrosse.
Melillo has seen action in two games for the Outlaws this season and leads the team with a .655 winning percentage (19-of-29). He is MU's all-time leader in face-off wins (464) and winning percentage (.551) and was a three-time all-conference performer.
Current Marquette volunteer assistant coach Brendan Kavanagh is in his rookie season with the Outlaws and is fourth on the squad with 37 points (21 goals, 16 assists).
Defenseman B.J. Grill is the lone former MU player to have won the Steinfeld Cup, having claimed the MLL championship with the Outlaws as a rookie in 2016.
Keep up with the Marquette men's lacrosse program through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteMLax) and Instagram (@MarquetteMLax) and 'liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteMLax).
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