Mike Merlone

Position:
Goalie
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Atherton, Calif.
High School:
The Menlo School

Mike Merlone graduated from Princeton as the team's all-time leader with 732 career saves. Merlone also finished up his career as the Southern Division's Most Valuable Player and an honorable mention All-America. Merlone started 26 games as a senior and went 18-8 with a career best .594 save percentage. He stopped 230 shots for an average of 8.8 saves per game, while adding 24 assists and 40 steals. Merlone stopped 10 or more shots in 13 of his 26 games played and matched his previous career high with three 15-save performances. All three of those were overtime games with wins at Johns Hopkins and against Brown and a loss to Navy. Merlone added 13 saves to beat Bucknell in the Southern Championship game and had 14 in home regular season win over the Bison. Merlone had four three-assist games and two games with four steals.

Merlone appeared in 23 games as a junior and recorded a 12-10 record with a .532 save percentage. Merlone stopped 190 of the shots he faced and recorded 10 assists and 30 steals. Merlone stopped 10 or more shots in 11 of his appearances. He twice recorded 12 saves in a game, doing it in a loss to Santa Clara and in a win over Navy. He added 11 saves in games against Brown, George Washington, Navy and Bucknell. Merlone stopped 29 shots in Princeton's three wins at Easterns and 15 in the two NCAA tournament games. He averaged better than 8.6 saves per game during the season.

Merlone saw the bulk of the action in goal as a sophomore. He played to a 15-8 record with a .542 save percentage. Merlone made 200 saves during the season and also added nine assists and 29 steals. A first-team All-Southern and first-team All-Eastern Tournament selection, Merlone made 10 or more saves in 17 of his 23 appearances. His season high of 16 saves came in a win over Redlands at the SoCal Tournament. He also made 15 saves in a regular-season win over Johns Hopkins and in the Eastern Championship game against Navy. Merlone averaged 10.3 saves per game.

Merlone posted a 5-4 record in 11 appearances as a freshman. Merlone made 75 saves and had a .547 save percentage. He made five saves in a half of action against Gannon to earn his first career win. He also picked up early season wins against Iona, George Washington and Harvard. Merlone’s best performance came in a win over Bucknell as he allowed just one goal on 10 shots to slow down the Bison late as Princeton rallied for a win.

Merlone started in the goal for The Menlo School his junior and senior years and was the Most Valuable Goalie of the Central Coast section both years. He also was a first-team All-America as a senior and a second-team All-America as a junior. In his senior season, his team had a record of 28-1 and won its second consecutive CCS title. Along with winning its section his team won multiple other tournaments including the Truwest Memorial Cup.

Career Stats

Year	GP	Record	GA	Saves	Save %	Assists	Steals
2007	11	5-4	62	75	.547	4	7
2008	23	15-8	200	237	.542	9	29
2009	23	12-10	167	190	.532	10	30
2010	26	18-8	157	230	.594	24	40
Totals	83	50-30	586	732	.555	47	106

Awards & Honors

- ACWPC Honorable Mention All-America (2010)
- Southern Most Valuable Player (2010)
- First-Team All-Southern (2008, 2010)
- First-Team All-Eastern Tournament (2009)
- Southern Defensive Player of the Week (9/14/10, 10/13/10, 11/10/10)