LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall overcame a brutally slow start to thump Susquehanna 16-7 on Tuesday. A seven-goal run by the Diplomats (4-1) in the second quarter effectively ended the Crusaders' (3-1) afternoon.

F&M was held scoreless in the first quarter as Susquehanna's Jordan Daney turned away five shots. In the meantime, Austen Lein had given the Crusaders a 1-0 lead finishing a run with a hard shot in the lower right corner  1:38 into the game. Bumped down to his knees, Susquehanna attack Dustin Breaky scored on a behind-the-net feed from Luke Delavan to beat Cameron Setian up top early in the second quarter. Just over a minute later, Tylere Fritts was parked with his back to the cage on the top of the crease and was well marked. That didn't stop him from redirecting Pat Brogan's pass between his legs and under Setian for a 3-0 Susquehanna lead.

Less than a minute later, and with the benefit of some subtle changes to the lineup at the first quarter break, the Diplomats finally solved Susquehanna's defense. Jimmy Wenk took a behind-the-net feed from Colin McKew up top on the right flank. He rifled a shot inside of the right post to get F&M on the board. Wenk's goal started the 7-0 run that broke Susquehanna's back. It was also the first of five goals McKew factored in on in the game and the first of three in the run.

F&M scored five times in a span of 3:24.

It was 49 seconds after Wenk got F&M on the board that McKew got the Diplomats back within one. Working from behind the net, he faked a defender off of the crease to the outside. McKew ducked into the void and needed only a stick fake to beat Daney for the unassisted marker. Connor Hewett fired a blast from the same real estate that had worked for Wenk to knot it at 3-3 just 46 seconds after McKew's first. Parked on the right post, McKew gave F&M its first lead of the day 47 seconds later taking Jeff Ritter's feed from on high to make it 4-3. Billy Kempner scored the first of his pair 1:02 later to make it 5-3.

After a 4:18 lull in the action, Kempner collected a perfect post-to-post pass from Matt Gillan that left Daney without a chance. On the ensuing faceoff, a scramble for the loose ball left the Diplomats with numbers. Seconds after collecting one of his eight faceoff wins of the afternoon, Setian took a pass from Kempner and buried it from straight-on, 15 feet out, running the lead to 7-3.

It was another unsettled play that stopped the bleeding for Susquehanna. On the faceoff after Setian's goal, the Diplomats won the draw but lost possession immediately. The ball bounced into the stick of Marcus Cheatham at midfield. He coasted to the net for an easy breakaway goal that made it 7-4 going into the half.

The Diplomats gashed the game right back open with six-straight in what was a scoreless third quarter for Susquehanna. Chris Kelly started the run with an extra-man goal. Wenk followed on with his second before Tristan Miller ripped off three-straight.

Once F&M got to scoring, Cameron Setian settled in, stopping 11 shots in three quarters of play. He yielded his cage to Connor Reymann in the fourth. Reymann turned away three Crusader advances.

The Diplomats outshot Susquehanna 47-34 and wreaked havoc on Susquehanna's clears throughout the contest. The Crusaders made good on just 19-of-27 attempts in the game. F&M outworked Susquehanna on the ground with a 45-32 edge in ground balls.

The Diplomats used 44 of the 48 players dressed in the contest and 13 different players registered at least a single point. Miller and McKee each scored three and assisted on a pair, while Wenk and Kelly both scored a pair. Nine different players caused a turnover including Carlos Pelaez, who grabbed four ground balls and registered his first career point assisting on Kelly's second.

F&M opens its league slate at home on Saturday against Muhlenberg.

Susquehanna (3-1) vs. Franklin & Marshall (4-1)

SCORE BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot

Susquehanna.........  1  3  0  3 -  7

Franklin & Marshall.  0  7  6  3 - 16

Susquehanna SCORING: GOALS: Dustin Breakey 2; Tim Pastore 1; Tylere Fritts 1; Justin Caba 1; Austen Lein 1; Marcus Cheatham 1.  ASSISTS: Pat Brogan 1; Luke Delavan 1; Tim Pastore 1.

Franklin & Marshall SCORING: GOALS: Tristan Miller 3; Colin McKew 3; Billy Kempner 2; James Wenk 2; Chris Kelly 2; Morgan Young 1; Connor Hewett 1; Andrew Setian 1; Jamie McCulloch 1.

ASSISTS: Colin McKew 2; Tristan Miller 2; Matt Gillan 1; Billy Kempner 1; Carlos Palaez 1; A.J. Reichert 1; Jeff Ritter 1.

GOALIES - SUSM: Jordan Daney (30:00 minutes, 14 shots-7 saves, 7 GA) , Blake Middendorf (15:42, 6-3, 3) , Will Torrence (14:18, 11-5, 6);  F&M: Connor Reymann (15:00, 6-3, 3) , Cameron Setian (45:00, 15-11, 4).

SHOTS - Susquehanna 34; Franklin & Marshall 47.

SHOTS ON GOAL - Susquehanna 21; Franklin & Marshall 31.

Penalties - Susquehanna 4/3:00; Franklin & Marshall 2/1:30.

MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES - Susquehanna 0-2; Franklin & Marshall 1-4.

TURNOVERS - Susquehanna 23; Franklin & Marshall 22.

FACEOFFS - Susquehanna 14-26; Franklin & Marshall 12-26.

CLEARS - Susquehanna 19-27; Franklin & Marshall 24-30.

Susquehanna GROUND BALLS: Ryan Oakes 4; Dave Rinaldi 4; Jordan Daney 3; Jimmy Warburton 3; Ryan Brimm 2; Marcus Cheatham 2; Justin Darlea 2; Tylere Fritts 2; John Kerrigan 2; Blake Middendorf 2; Dustin Breakey 1; Pat Brogan 1; Ian Karch 1; Austen Lein 1; Tim Pastore 1; Billy Spack 1.

Franklin & Marshall GROUND BALLS: Colin McKew 5; Billy Kempner 4; Carlos Palaez 4; Tim Gaines 3; Josh Kanter 3; Andrew Setian 3; Cameron Setian 3; Kevin Kilpatrick 2; Jamie McCulloch 2; Jason Polansky 2; Connor Reymann 2; Henry Richardson 2; Ryan Whooley 2; Scott Beury 1; Kier Blevins 1; Bennett Erickson 1; Nils Hansen 1; Billy Higgins 1; Sean Kenny 1; Freddy Schweizer 1; Morgan Young 1.

Susquehanna TURNOVERS CAUSED: Tim Pastore 2; Ryan Brimm 1; Pat Brogan 1; Justin Darlea 1; Rob Lamperti 1; Austen Lein 1; Benjamin Markison 1; Carl Mueller 1; Dave Rinaldi 1.

Franklin & Marshall TURNOVERS CAUSED: Kier Blevins 1; Billy Higgins 1; Josh Kanter 1; Billy Kempner 1; James King 1; Jake Litke 1; Carlos Palaez 1; A.J. Reichert 1; Henry Richardson 1.

Start time: 3:00 pm   Finish time: 4:46      Length of game: 1:46

Officials: Tim Goodall; Kevin Schaefer; Michael Hinfey. Scorer: F&M Sports Info.

A-244 T-1:46