HAVERFORD, Pa. – Trailing 3-2 heading into the fourth, Franklin & Marshall scored three unanswered goals to defeat Haverford 5-3 in Centennial Conference (CC) men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon. F&M improved to 11-3, 5-1 CC with the win and Haverford dropped to 7-6, 3-3 CC. 

A defensive battle throughout the contest resulted in zero goals in the opening 15 minutes of action. F&M took a 1-0 lead at 14:07 in the second when Michael Bossidy found Mike Rama. The Diplomats went up 2-0 on a goal from Billy Schwartz at 10:23 and the Fords managed to slip one through with just four ticks on the clock to make it 2-1 at the break.

Haverford controlled the third and tallied two straight to take a 3-2 lead heading into the fourth. F&M dominated the fourth with three straight to secure the win. George Briggs tied the game at 3-3 early in the fourth and Rama netted the go-ahead goal at 7:20 to make it 4-3. Four minutes later, Sean Rogers found Bossidy for the insurance score and F&M's defense held the Fords off the board the remainder of the game.

Tommy O'Connor paced the defense with three caused turnovers and five ground balls and Wes Rhudy finished with three caused turnovers and two ground balls.  Anthony Dougherty had four ground balls with two caused turnovers to help lead the defense.

Mike Sanzone won 7-of-12 from the X and scooped up four balls and Scott Hatch picked up the win with 10 saves in goal.

F&M outshot Haverford 29-24, held a 34-26 edge in ground balls and went 13-for-19 in clear attempts.

The Diplomats return to action on Wednesday when F&M travels to No. 6 Gettysburg for a 4:00 p.m. game.