LYNCHBURG, Va. – Franklin & Marshall fell 8-5 to No. 11 Lynchburg in men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon in the Diplomats season opener. The Hornets improved to 1-1 while F&M dropped to 0-1.

F&M took control early, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Michael Bossidy found Philip Gamble a minute into the game for the first score and Bossidy hooked up with Will Ballantyne at 3:37 in the first to put the Diplomats up 2-0.

Lynchburg answered and dominated the second quarter with three unanswered scores to take its first lead of the game, 3-2, with 6:46 left to the break. Bossidy ended the run with a score off a John Barney feed at 4:34, but Rob Arnold put one through to give Lynchburg a 4-3 edge. F&M battled back and tied the game at 4-4 when Tommy Wenk found Jamie McCulloch for the man-up goal with 45 seconds left in the half. 

The Hornets came out of the break strong and netted four goals in first six minutes of the second half. Todd Galvin and Campbell Armstrong scored 30 seconds apart to make it 6-4 before Arnold and Bobby Distler both struck in a 17-second span to put the Hornets up 8-4 at 9:40 in the third quarter. 

F&M kept battling and Wenk scored unassisted at 2:42 in the third to bring the Diplomats within three, 8-5. Both defenses stepped up and did not allow a goal the remainder of the contest, but the Diplomats did see some good looks in the fourth, and were unable to find the back of the net. 

Connor Melillo caused three turnovers with three ground balls while Carlos Pelaez finished with three ground balls as well to pace the defense. 

Adam Davey picked up the win with nine saves and improved to 1-1 while Cameron Setian took the loss with seven stops. 

F&M returns to action on Wednesday when the Diplomats host York at 4:00 p.m.