LANCASTER, Pa. - Ben Beaver registered two early goals and the Franklin & Marshall men's soccer team held off No. 8 Oneonta St. 2-1 in the season opener for both sides on Friday night at Tylus Field. This marks the second straight season in which the Diplomats (1-0) have knocked off a ranked opponent to begin the year, having defeated No. 16 Medaille in their first contest a season ago.

Beaver, who led the Diplomats and the Centennial Conference in scoring last year, wasted little time finding the back of the net in his junior campaign with two scores in the opening 20 minutes. The forward first struck paydirt in the 13th minute off a feed from Ryan O'Connell. Located near the left sideline, O'Connell slid a square ball to Beaver, who blasted a screamer to the upper-left corner of goal that hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced across the goal line for a 1-0 Diplomat lead.

Beaver made it a 2-0 F&M edge just five minutes later, this time off a perfectly-placed feed from Max Watson. Dribbling towards goal several yards past the midfield line, Watson hit a streaking Beaver with a well-timed through ball, and Beaver found himself one-one-on with Red Dragons goalkeeper Daniel DeBottis. The junior continued to speed towards goal, dribbled to his left around DeBottis, and touched home what would prove to be the game-winner.

Oneonta St. cut the Diplomat advantage in half with an unassisted tally from Justin Rivera in the 27th minute. After a misclearance by the F&M defense, Rivera took advantage and buried a liner from the right side into the near post to pull the Red Dragons within a 2-1 margin.

Both sides settled in after Rivera's score, as quality opportunities around net diminished until the final 10 minutes of play. The Red Dragons had several chances to tie things up in the latter stages, but goalkeeper T.J. White and the F&M defense stood strong to preserve the win.

White (1-0) notched four saves to earn the victory in net, while DeBottis managed two saves on the night.

F&M returns to the pitch tomorrow at home against Covenant. Game time is slated for 6:00 p.m. at Tylus Field.

Oneonta St. (0-1) vs. F&M (1-0)

Goals by period       1  2  Tot
 -------------------------------
 Oneonta St..........  1  0 -  1
 F&M.................  2  0 -  2
 
 SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.  13:58 F&M Ben Beaver (1) (Ryan O'Connell) - just outside 18 - off crossbar and in
  2.  18:49 F&M Ben Beaver (2) (Max Watson) - through ball into box, dribbled past gk and touched in
  3.  27:16 ONEMS Justin Rivera (1) (unassisted) - shot off rebound on right side...liner to near post

 Shots: Oneonta St. 9, F&M 10
 Saves: Oneonta St. 2 (Daniel DeBottis 2), F&M 4 (TJ White 4)