COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Ursinus used a strong second quarter to defeat Franklin & Marshall 9-7 in men's lacrosse action Wednesday evening. The Diplomats dropped to 3-5, 1-1 CC while the Bears improved to 6-1, 2-0 CC.

Read Zeigler put the Diplomats on the board first when he netted a pass from Sean Rogers at 4:03 in the first before Ian Desnberg answered for the Bears with just three ticks on the clock to make it 1-1 heading into the second. Michael Bossidy found Chad Gamble early in the second to put F&M out in front, 2-1, but the Bears hit another gear and went on a 6-0 run that spanned into the third quarter and took a 7-2 lead with 2:55 left in the third.

Ben Ross buried a pass from Billy Schwartz to stop the run and brought F&M within four, 7-3, with 1:04 left in the third. Ursinus answered and went up 8-3 early in the fourth before Chad Gamble connected with Ziegler at 10:24 to make it 8-4, but Ursinus countered and put one through at 8:30 and took a 9-4 lead. The Diplomats finished strong with three unanswered goals by Chad Gamble, Ben Ross and John Barney.

Chad Gamble, Read Ziegler and Ben Ross all finished with a pair of goals and John Barney finished with a score for the Diplomats. Chad Gamble added two helpers while Sean Rogers, Philip Gamble and Billy Schwartz all dished out an assist.

Wesley Rhudy caused two turnovers and picked up seven ground balls to pace the defense and Mike Sanzone went 11-for-18 from the X.

Timothy Mattessich took the loss with 12 saves and dropped to 3-5 while Brian Neff improved to 6-1 with 10 stops.

F&M had a 29-27 edge in shots, held a 33-28 advantage in ground balls and went 19-for-22 in clears.

The Diplomats return to action on Saturday when F&M hosts Washington at 1:00 p.m.