SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Swarthmore jumped out to a two-goal advantage in the first half and held off a late Franklin & Marshall push to defeat the Diplomats 2-1 on Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference men's soccer action featuring two of the top-25 teams in the nation. The 25^th-ranked Diplomats drop to 3-2-1 overall and begin CC play at 0-1, while the fourth-ranked Garnet remain perfect on the year at 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the CC.  

Swarthmore's first score came in the 24th minute after Fabian Castro ran onto through-ball down the left flank. Castro squeezed a pass through a crowd of F&M defenders across the top of the 18-yard box that David Sterngold touched past goalkeeper Zach Fernberger for his fifth score of the season and the Garnet held a 1-0 edge.

Kieran Reichert made it a 2-0 Garnet lead in the 41st minute following a pinpoint pass from Michael Stewart in the middle of the field. Stewart headed a bouncing ball from about 35 yards out to Reichert, who settled the ball with his chest while racing towards goal and buried it into the back of the net.

The Diplomats made things interesting with time winding down in the second half as Ben Beaver dialed up his team-high sixth goal of the year to pull F&M within one. Derek Pawlush found an opening in the Swarthmore defense just inside the right edge of the box and slid a square pass towards the center that Beaver one-timed into the far post netting and the Diplomats had a slither of hope in the final minutes.

However, Beaver's goal would prove to be too little, too late for the Diplomats as they were unable to make another push forward prior to time expiring.

Fernberger recorded  five saves in 70 minutes of play before receiving a red card and having to leave the game. Freshman T.J. White relieved Fernberger for the remainder of the contest and notched two saves in the first action of his career. Garnet goalkeeper David D'Annunzio tallied three saves in the win.

F&M returns to the pitch on Saturday, Sept. 24 at Haverford in Centennial Conference play. Game time is set for 1:00 pm.

 Franklin & Marshall (3-2-1,0-1) vs. Swarthmore (5-0,1-0)

 Goals by period       1  2  Tot
 -------------------------------
 Franklin & Marshall.  0  1 -  1
 Swarthmore..........  2  0 -  2
 
 SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.  23:38 SWATM David Sterngold (5) (Fabian Castro) - Scored on transition following turnover
  2.  40:37 SWATM Kieran Reichert (2) (Michael Stewart) - Shot of header assist from Stewart
  3.  88:24 F&M Ben Beaver (6) (Derek Pawlush) - First F&M goal against Swarthmore since 2006

 Shots: Franklin & Marshall 6, Swarthmore 21
 Saves: Franklin & Marshall 7 (TJ White 2; Zach Fernberger 5),Swarthmore 3 (David D'Annunzio 3)