Matt Capone ’05, the greatest faceoff man in the history of the Franklin & Marshall men’s lacrosse program, also has an argument to make as the greatest face-off man in the history of Division III lacrosse. Winning 673 career face-offs at a .733 clip, Capone easily holds the school record in both of those categories. Capone’s .733 winning percentage at the face-off X was also a Division III record at the time of his graduation. That record stood all the way until the 2021 season and is still the fourth-best percentage in Division III history. During the 2003 season, Capone registered a record-breaking .864 winning percentage, which was the best among players in every division in the NCAA. It also began a three-year run in which he led the nation in face-off percentage.
His prowess at the face-off earned him three first-team All-Centennial Conference honors from the moment he took over as the Diplomats’ face-off specialist. With those accolades, he was named to the conference’s silver anniversary team, which celebrated the best players among every sport in conference history. His ability to keep the possession was so highly regarded that he received All-America status as a midfielder in a time before specialists were identified on the All-American teams. Even on the rare occasion that an opponent was able to steal a face-off win, Capone never gave up on a play and most likely forced a turnover shortly after as a long stick middie before the offense settled into its attack. His 5.79 ground balls per game still stand as a school record to this day.
A team captain, Capone capped his lacrosse career as an alternate invitee to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Associations Senior All-Star Game after helping Franklin & Marshall to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament during the 2003 season as the Diplomats defeated sixth-ranked Lynchburg on its home field before falling to eventual national champion Salisbury.
Capone was the top face-off man in the NCAA despite spending half his year on the gridiron with the football team. An all-conference performer in both sports, Capone held the universal respect of all his teammates as he was named as a captain for both teams during his senior season. After breaking onto the national lacrosse scene in the spring of 2003, Capone earned second-team All-Centennial Conference recognition on the football field that fall and followed it up with honorable mention all-conference accolades as a senior.
A winning culture certainly followed Capone. In addition to leading the lacrosse team back to the national tournament for the first time in nearly a decade, Capone helped to end a nearly decade-long draught of Centennial Conference Championships in football when his team got to hoist the trophy following the 2004 season. In the most unlikely of scenarios that season, F&M began its conference schedule with a 15-10 victory against fellow co-champion Muhlenberg before suffering back-to-back losses versus Johns Hopkins and Dickinson by just a combined nine points. The team’s fortunes completely turned around when the defense fueled a 20-7 upset victory against No. 16 McDaniel which started a four-game winning streak to close Capone’s football career that was capped by a 37-20 victory over Moravian in the ECAC South Championship Bowl Game. Capone’s influence changed the entire culture of a team that did not win a game during his senior year of high school but got better every year that he put on the Diplomats’ uniform. Capone made 221 tackles during his career, including 25 tackles for loss. While still holding a top-20 mark in school history in tackles for loss, Capone’s forced fumble and recovered fumble totals are also among the program’s best marks all time.
Capone graduated from F&M with a degree in accounting and has been working as a corporate bond salesman for over 20 years, including the last 16 with Seaport Global Securities, where he specializes in fixed income sales and trading.
