LANCASTER, PA -- Brandon Corday (Fr., Morton Grove, IL/Niles Township) scored twice and Alex Sanchez-Sierra (Sr., Tangier, Morocco/American College of Tangier) added a goal and an assist in the first half as the Franklin & Marshall College men's soccer team built a 3-0 lead by halftime to manage the Muhlenberg Mules 4-2 in Centennial Conference action.
Muhlenberg was tied with the Diplomats for just 1:09 as Sanchez-Sierra dished a pass to Corday who buried a shot into an open net from inside the 18-yard mark for a 1-0 lead. Twenty-one minutes later Wallace Eisenhauer (Sr., New Castle, DE/Wilmington Christian) found Corday who ripped a shot past Mules' goalie Chris Davis for a 2-0 lead.
Five minutes later the Diplomats recorded the eventual game-winner as Ryan McGonigle (Fr., Chadds Ford, PA/Unionville) turned at the 18 yard marker and passed to Sanchez-Sierra who buried a shot into the upper right corner of the goal past a diving Davis to take a 3-0 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the Mules made the game interesting as Wesley Deininger scored unassisted goals at 56:00 and 72:30 to pull the Mules to within a goal at 3-2 with 17:30 left to play.
However, Franklin & Marshall's defense locked down the Mules' scorers as the ball did not cross midfield with a Muhlenberg possession for the next five minutes.
Muhlenberg's best chance to tie the game and force overtime came with 2:02 left on the clock as a Mules' player ripped a shot through traffic which F&M goalie Ed Stelz (So., Kew Gardens, NY/Loomis Chaffee) grabbed at knee height to finish off Muhlenberg's scoring threat for the remainder of the game.
The Diplomats tacked on an insurance goal with 15.6 seconds to go in the game as Danny Levi (Fr., White Plains, NY/Masters School) found Eisenhauer on the wing as the senior forward curved a shot up and over Davis and into the right corner of the goal for the 4-2 final.
In goal, Stelz recorded seven saves off nine Muhlenberg shots, while Davis stopped five of Franklin & Marshall's 13 shots.
The game was similar to the last time the Mules and Diplomats met in Lancaster on October 30, 2002 as the Diplomats scored three times in the second half for a 4-2 victory over Muhlenberg behind two goals from Pete Pryzbylkowski (Sr., Blackwood, NJ/Bishop Eustace) and a goal and an assist off the foot of Forrest Watson '04. Historically, the win clinched the #2 seed in the CC playoffs for F&M as the team advanced to the Centennial Conference title game before falling to host Johns Hopkins in penalty kicks.
Overall, the win ups F&M's record to 27-22-3 all-time against Muhlenberg as the Mules picked up a 2-1 overtime regular season win against the Diplomats last year in Allentown as the Mules later went on to defeat Johns Hopkins 2-1 for the 2003 Centennial Conference championship.
Franklin & Marshall College (4-2-1, 2-1 CC) will continue the season on October 2 at Swarthmore College. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.
Muhlenberg (3-4-1, 1-2 CC) 0-2 -- 2
Franklin & Marshall (4-2-1, 2-1 CC) 3-1 -- 4
Goals: F&M - Brandon Corday (Alex Sanchez-Sierra), 1:09
F&M - Brandon Corday (Wallace Eisenhauer), 22:44
F&M - Alex Sanchez-Sierra (Ryan McGonigle), 27:01
MC - Wesley Deininger (unassisted), 56:00
MC - Wesley Deininger (unassisted), 72:30
F&M - Wallace Eisenhauer (Danny Levi), 89:45
Goalie Saves: F&M - Ed Stelz, 7 (90 minutes)
MC - Chris Davis, 5 (90 minutes)
Shots: F&M 13, MC 9
Corner Kicks: F&M 4, MC 5
Direct Kicks: F&M 1, MC 5
