CHESTERTOWN, MD -- Washington College's Stephen Berger scored two of his game high five goals in the fourth quarter as the #3 nationally ranked Shoremen outscored Franklin & Marshall College 4-2 in the final period for a 10-8 win.

Trailing 5-2 at halftime, the Shoremen outscored F&M 4-1 in the third period to draw the game to a 6-6 tie entering the fourth quarter.

The Diplomats retook the lead 25 seconds into the final frame as Colin Hanley (Jr., Davidsonville, MD/DeMatha) scored an unassisted goal to put Franklin & Marshall in front 7-6. However, Michael Dyal scored off an assist from Jon Spivey at the 13:54 mark as Washington scored three straight goals over a period of 4:30 to take the win. Tied 7-7, Berger finished a feed from Topher Brewer at the 11:11 mark for a 8-7 lead before Sam Lane tacked on the game winner off an assist from Berger with 9:29 to play.

Franklin & Marshall attempted to come back as Vandy Vanderwarker (Sr., Keswick, VA/STAB) beat Washington goalie Richard Yost with 7:38 to play to pull his team to within 9-8. However, Berger notched an unassisted goal with 26 seconds remaining on the clock for an insurance score as the Shoremen remain perfect upping their record to 12-0, 5-0 in the Centennial Conference.

Historically, the win improves Washington to 31-1 all-time against F&M as the Diplomats last defeated the Shoremen in 1995.

For F&M (7-3, 2-2 Centennial Conference) the game was similar to last year's meeting in Lancaster in which the then #6 Shoremen used a pair of late goals by Brent Renner to stave off an upset by #10 ranked Franklin & Marshall College, 9-7.

This year, Washington jumped on the board 1:01 into the first period as Andrew Ostrusky netted an unassisted goal. The lead grew to 2-0 with 4:22 left in the quarter as Spivey scored off an assist from Renner.

However, the lead lasted less than two minutes as Kevin Kohl (Fr., Manasquan, NJ/Loomis Chaffee) split the Shoremen defense for a score with 2:33 left in the period before Chris Wathey (Sr., South Huntington, NY/St. Anthonys) side-stepped his defender and blasted a feed from Steve Welsh (Jr., Lewes, DE/Cape Henelopen) into the back of the cage with 25 seconds left in the quarter for a 2-2 tie.

F&M dominated Washington in the second quarter as the Diplomats scored the only three goals of the second quarter and held an 11-4 advantage in shots. Welsh started things off with a score courtesy a feed from Vanderwarker with 14:15 to play before Wathey followed with a goal at 6:42. J.B. Robichau (Jr., Edgartown, MA/Tabor) made the score 5-2 in favor of F&M with a goal off of a Welsh assist with 5:10 left in the second quarter as the Diplomats carried a three goal advantage into the break.

Washington began to comeback in the third as Berger scored off an assist from Spivey at 13:25. Vanderwarker countered with a score from the stick of Wathey at 12:28, but Berger scored twice and Spivey once over the final 12 minutes of the period to knot the score at 6-6 and set up Berger's heroics in the fourth quarter.

Statistically, the Diplomats dominated the game from the opening face-off to the final horn outshooting the Shoremen 35-to-28 and holding a 38-31 advantage in ground balls while face-off specialist Matt Capone (Jr., Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale) won 15-of-22 face-offs he contested. In goal, Mike Sartorius (Jr., Summit, NJ/Summit) made 11 saves to take the loss, while Yost stopped 20 shots to earn the win.

Franklin & Marshall (7-3, 2-2 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on April 21 at home against Dickinson College. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.

Period 1-2-3-4 -- Total
Franklin & Marshall (7-3, 2-2 CC) 2-3-1-2 -- 8
Washington (12-0, 4-0 CC) 2-0-4-4 -- 10

Goals:
F&M - Vandy Vanderwarker (2), Chris Wathey (2), Steve Welsh (1), Colin Hanley (1), Kevin Kohl (1), JB Robichau (1)
Washington - Stephen Berger (5), Jon Spivey (2), Andrew Ostrusky (1), Mike Dyal (1), Sam Lane (1)

Assists:
F&M - Steve Welsh (2), Henry Kusjanovic (1), Vandy Vanderwarker (1), Chris Wathey (1)
Washington - Jon Spivey (3), Stephen Berger (2), Topher Brewer (1), Andrew Ostrusky (1), Brent Renner (1)

Goalies (Saves/Goals/Minutes)
F&M - Mike Sartorius (11/10/60)
Washington - Richard Yost (20/8/59:36)/ Kevin Thibadeau (0/0/:24)

Ground Balls: F&M 38, Washington 31

Shots: F&M 35, Washington 28

Extra Man: F&M 1-for-3, Washington 3-for-5

Faceoffs: F&M 15-of-22, Washington 7-of-22

Clears: F&M 17-of-23, Washington 18-of-21