LANCASTER, PA -- Steve Welsh (Jr., Lewes, DE/Cape Henelopen) scored twice in the final eight minutes of play for the game-winner and an insurance goal, while Vandy Vanderwarker (Sr., Davidsonville, MD/DeMatha) scored three goals for a hat-trick as the Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats avoided an upset by defeating Dickinson 7-5 in Centennial Conference men's lacrosse action.

Welsh's game-winner with 8:21 left on the clock marked the second year in a row the junior attackman has scored the game-winner against the Red Devils as he scored twice and handed out three assists in a 11-9 win in Carlisle on April 19, 2003.

Tied 5-5 entering the fourth period, Welsh took over the game as he split the Devils' defense and buried a feed from Mike Down (Fr., Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) past Dickinson goalie Tom Wilson for a 6-5 lead with 8:21 left on the clock. The score marked the first time the Diplomats led in the game as F&M came back from a 4-2 deficit in the opening minute of the second half to take the win.

Welsh scored again less than four minutes later as he took a pass from Chris Wathey (Sr., South Huntington, NY/St. Anthony's) on a fast break, leaped into the air and ripped a diagonal shot over the right shoulder of Wilson for an insurance score as the Diplomats' defense did the rest to improve to 8-3, 3-2 in Centennial Conference play.

Historically, the win marks the third straight two goal victory for F&M over Dickinson (8-4 4-2 CC) as the Red Devils fell in Lancaster in 2002 by a 9-7 final.

In the history of the series, the game marked one of the closest as Dickinson has failed to defeat the Diplomats since a 12-10 victory in Carlisle in the spring of 1967, a string of 37 consecutive defeats.

Against Dickinson in 2004, the Red Devils struck first as Flynn Burch scored a man-up goal off a pass from Drew Peace for a 1-0 lead with 7:33 left in the first period. Franklin & Marshall responded as Vanderwarker whipped an assist from Wathey into the twine with five minutes left in the period for a 1-1 tie after 15 minutes of play.

Dickinson retook the advantage with 10:13 left in the second period as Brian Read dunked a feed from Peace past F&M goalie Mike Sartorius (Jr., Summit, NJ/Summit) at point blank range for a 2-1 lead. The Diplomats retied the score with 1:37 left in the first half as Vanderwarker fired a blast past Wilson off a pass from Bas Solleveld (Sr., Glenmoore, PA/Shipley) for a 2-2 tie at intermission.

However, the Devils would get their due in the second half as a slashing penalty on defenseman Dave Taler (Sr., Baltimore, MD/Gilman) carried over into the second half.

With no face-off in the third period, the Devils got to work moving the ball around the perimeter before a Dickinson player fired a shot that bounced off the head of Sartorius' stick. Attackman Scott Dalgliesh caught the deflection in midair and flipped a shot into the goal for a man-up goal and a 3-2 lead 37 seconds into the half. Dickinson increased the lead to 4-2 ten seconds later as Mike Kirk scooped a ground ball off the face-off and broke away before firing a shot into the goal for a two goal advantage.

Needing a score, F&M turned to Vanderwarker who completed a natural hat trick by beating his defender and tallying a goal off a pass from Welsh at the 12:00 minute mark to trail 4-3. Four minutes later, Cyrus Adams (Fr., Nashville, TN/Montgomery Bell) tied the score at 4-4 as he finished a centering pass from Welsh for a point-blank shot with 7:53 left.

However, Dickinson retook the lead on another bizarre score as Sartorius left the cage in pursuit of a ball two yards behind the net. However, a Dickinson player scooped the ball and fed a pass in front which Sartorius and a defender dove in front of to make the save before the ball skipped out to Peace who flipped the ball into the cage for a 5-4 lead with 4:10 left in the third period.

F&M responded with 1:34 to go as Kevin Kohl (Fr., Manasquan, NJ/Loomis Chaffee) netted an unassisted goal to knot the score at 5-5 entering the fourth period and set up Welsh's heroics.

The key to the game was the play of F&M long-stick defenseman Ed Schellhorn (So., Wilton, CT/Wilton) who repeatedly stifled the Dickinson offense by shutting down shooters and clearing the ball in front of Sartorius to keep the Devils' in check for much of the first half and fourth period.

Between the pipes, Sartorius finished with nine saves on 30 Dickinson shots, while Wilson stopped eight of F&M's 21 shots.

On face-offs, Matt Capone (So., Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale) won nine-of-14, including four-of-six in the first half, to set up the Diplomats' offense in the comeback.

Franklin & Marshall (8-3, 3-2 CC) will continue the season on April 24 at home versus Swarthmore College. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. at Sponaugle-Williamson Field.

SCORE BY PERIODS
Dickinson (8-4, 4-2 CC) 1-1-3-0-- 5
Franklin & Marshall (8-3, 3-2 CC) 1-1-3-2-- 7

Goals:
F&M - Vandy Vanderwarker (3), Steve Welsh (2), Cyrus Adams (1), Kevin Kohl (1)
DC - Flynn Burch (1), Brian Read (1), Scott Dalgliesh (1), Mike Kirk (1), Drew Peace (1)

Assists:
F&M - Chris Wathey (2), Steve Welsh (2), Bas Solleveld (1), Mike Down (1)
DC - Drew Peace (2)

Goalie (Saves/Shots/Goals Allowed/Minutes)
F&M - Mike Sartorius (9/30/5/60:00)
DC - Tom Wilson (8/21/7/60:00)

Shots - F&M 21, DC 30
Ground Balls - F&M 20, DC 38
Face-Offs - F&M 9 of 14, DC 5 of 14
Extra man - F&M 0 for 5, DC 2 for 5
Clearing - F&M 20 of 28, DC 24 of 26
Attendance - 365