LANCANCASTER, Pa. — For the seventh consecutive year, Franklin & Marshall's field hockey took on Elizabethtown in its season opener, and for the sixth time the Diplomats came out on top, claiming a 3-0 victory. The No. 9 Diplomats moved to 1-0 with the win, while the Blue Jays fell to 0-1 on the year.

F&M controlled the action early in the game and capitalized at 4:09 for a 1-0 lead. Erin Coverdale was running left chasing after the ball and fired a shot across the reach of the Elizabethtown goalie and to the back-right of the net for the score. The Blue Jays had a few looks in the middle of the half, but F&M's defense stood tall and kept the Jays off the board to hold onto a 1-0 lead at the break.

The Diplomats had some early looks to start the second but were not able to connect. Seven minutes into the final frame, Nicole Bodo lifted ball toward the goalie who tipped the ball back where Sydney Cole was standing. Cole batted the ball out of the air into the back of the cage for a 2-0 F&M advantage.In the 46th minute,  Annie Horsley made it 3-0 when she struck high in the left corner of the cage off a penalty stroke.

Ilianna Santangelo picked up the win in goal and improved to 1-0 while Margo Donlin took the loss with three stops.

F&M owned a 14-3 advantage in shots and had an 8-4 edge in corners. Cole paced the offensive with five shots while Horsley recorded three and Melissa Gula added a pair.

The Diplomats return to action on Sunday when F&M travels to Rowan for a 12:00 p.m. game.