BALTIMORE, MD -- Franklin & Marshall's Steve Welsh (Jr., Lewes, DE/Cape Henelopen) scored four goals and handed out four assists as the #15 ranked Diplomats held on to defeat Denison College 12-10 in men's lacrosse.
The Diplomats never trailed in the game as Vandy Vanderwarker (Sr., Keswick, VA/STAB) finished a feed from Welsh 2:49 into the first period and Chris Wathey (Sr., South Huntington, NY/St. Anthony's) buried an unassisted goal with 9:44 left in the period to build a 2-0 lead.
The Big Red responded as Ted Douglass scored the first of his game high six goals at the 5:13 mark to slice the lead in half.
However, Welsh closed out the period in style scoring goals at 4:47 and 1:24 and dishing off an assist to Wathey for a goal at 3:54 as Franklin & Marshall carried a 5-1 lead into the second period.
Denison fired back in the second quarter as Craig Pastor scored at 14:32 before Douglass found the back of the net at 13:11 and 10:14 to pull his team to within a goal. The Big Red knotted the score at 5-5 with 3:36 to play in the first half as Yianni Savoulidis zipped a shot off a Douglass assist past F&M goalie Mike Sartorius (Jr., Summit, NJ/Summit) to even the score.
Again, Wathey and Welsh responded as Wathey fed a scoring pass to Kevin Kohl (Fr., Manasquan, NJ/Loomis Chaffee) at 2:10, and Welsh fed Vanderwarker nine seconds later for another score as the Diplomats went into the locker room with a 7-5 lead at the break.
F&M sealed the victory in the third quarter as Welsh polished off an assist to balloon the lead to three goals with 13:41 left in the period. Denison cut the lead back 11 seconds later as Douglass tallied a goal off a Pat Hantske assist, but F&M reeled off four unanswered goals to close out the frame and open the fourth quarter with a 12-6 lead.
Following Douglass' goal, Welsh beat Denison goalie Tom Moriarity stick-side low at 10:17, Wathey zipped a Cyrus Adams (Fr., Nashville, TN/Montgomery Bell) assist between the pipes at 9:24, Welsh finished an assist from Wathey at 8:45 and Colin Hanley (Jr., Davidsonville, MD/DeMatha) registered an unassisted goal at 1:04 for all the scoring F&M needed to take the win.
In the fourth quarter, Denison attempted an inspired comeback as Pastor went stick-side high at 11:01 before Douglass tallied back-to-back scores at 9:00 and 6:37 to pull the Big Red to within 12-9. Savoulidis tacked on a score with 32 seconds left on the clock to break into double digits, but the score was too little too late as the Diplomats clinched the victory.
Between the pipes, Sartorius made 11 saves on 25 Denison shots, while Moriarity stopped 22 of F&M's 43 shots.
Franklin & Marshall (4-1, 0-0 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on March 24 at Goucher College. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.
Period 1-2-3-4 -- Total
Denison (1-3) 1-4-1-4 -- 10
Franklin & Marshall (4-1) 5-2-5-0 -- 12
Goals:
F&M - Steve Welsh (4), Chris Wathey (4), Vandy Vanderwarker (2), Kevin Kohl (1), Colin Hanley (1)
Denison - Ted Douglass (6), Craig Pastor (2), Yianni Savoulidis (2)
Assists:
F&M - Steve Welsh (4), Chris Wathey (2), Cyrus Adams (1), Mike Down (1)
Denison - Pat Hantske (2), Ted Douglass (1), Lou Sorgi (1), Warner Siebert (1), Chris Boehl (1), Clay Wawner (1)
Goalies (Saves/Goals/Minutes)
F&M - Mike Sartorius (11/10/60)
Denison - Tom Moriarity (22/12/58), Porter Hayes (0/0/2)
Ground Balls: F&M 43, Denison 32
Shots: F&M 38, Denison 25
Extra Man: F&M 2 for 9, Denison 0 for 4
Faceoffs: F&M 21 for 26, Denison 5 for 26
