LANCASTER, Pa. -- Paige Moriarty and Grace Saliba finished with five points each to propel No. 4 Franklin & Marshall to a 12-4 victory over Ursinus in Centennial Conference (CC) action Wednesday afternoon.  F&M won its eighth-straight with victory and improved to 14-1, 6-0 CC while the Bears fell to 6-7, 2-4 CC. 

F&M wasted little time getting on board as Saliba picked up her 100th-career goal when she finished off a pass from Moriarty just 2:09 into the game. The Bears tied the game two minutes later, and the Diplomats countered with three straight to take the lead for good. Claire Jackson started the run with a goal at 25:08 and Maddie Hughes made it 3-1 before Natalie Delinsky found Jackson at 20:08 to put F&M up 4-1.

Ursinus struck on back-to-back scores midway through the first to come within a point, 4-3, but the Diplomats answered with a 3-0 run and took a 7-3 lead into the break. Moriarty netted an unassisted goal to start the run, followed by an unassisted tally from Saliba before the pair finished off the run at 2:58 when Saliba scored off a pass from Moriarty.

The Diplomats continued the run with two straight to open the second frame and took a 9-3 advantage with scores from Anastasia Mergner and Moriarty. The Bears managed a score at 17:25 and F&M responded with three unanswered to close out the game. Saliba and Moriarty connected for the first score before Jackson and Saliba scored a little over six minutes apart.

Saliba finished with four scores and an assist, Moriarty had three goals with two helpers and Jackson also finished with a hat trick with three goals. Mergner and Hughes both had a goal and Delinsky ended with one assist.

Stephanie Speese paced the defense with four caused turnovers; two ground balls and added two draws while Samantha Blicht caused two turnovers with two ground balls. Katie Groenke had two ground balls and Saliba along Jackson both collected three ground balls each.

Danielle Harrington picked up the win with six saves and improved to 11-0 while Margaret Philbin took the loss with 11 stops.

F&M outshot Ursinus 40-14, held a 17-11 edge in ground balls, won 11-of-18 draws and went 13-for-15 in clear attempts.

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