LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 9 Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team defeated DeSales by a 19-6 score during its home opener on Wednesday afternoon. The win matched the scored from Saturday's season-opening victory at Lebanon Valley.

Kai Kelly continued the great start to his rookie season with a team-high five goals, while adding on one assist as he needed just seven total shots to rack up those points. A.J. Rigsby, Will DeMuth, and Will Mollihan also recorded hat tricks during the resounding victory as 12 different F&M players came away with a point. Rigsby added four assists to the attack, while his fellow three-goal scorers each tallied one helper.

F&M jumped out to a 14-2 lead after just 30 minutes, with seven goals during each of the first two quarters. DeMuth and Rigsby both scored during the opening quarter as Spencer Hall and Eddy Madden also got into the scoring act with their tallies on the afternoon. Kelly closed the opening quarter with an exclamation point as he scored three goals during the final 8:34 of the period. He would gone on to tally twice in the second quarter as all of his offensive damage was done during the first five minutes.

Rigsby had his hat trick completed by halftime with a pair of second quarter goals, while Blake Target got on the scoreboard during that same period after leading the team with five goals on Saturday. The Diplomats did not surrender a goal until the 6:09 mark of the second quarter when the Bulldogs took advantage of two man-up chances in that period.

Transitioning to a more tactical attack during the second half, James Moroney and DeMuth both lit up the scoreboard during the third quarter. DeMuth and Mollihan capped their hat tricks with fourth quarter goals. Eric Scheuerle's first goal of the afternoon capped the scoring ing for the hosts.

The Diplomats finished the game with a 48-23 advantage in shots and a 50-34 edge in ground balls. Sage Garito stopped seven of the 13 shots on goal he faced to help the defensive unit. Noah Isaacson caused three turnovers and came away with six ground balls aid in those efforts, with Kyle Craig additionally forcing three turnovers during the victory. Thanks to winning 11 of his 16 face-off attempts, Connor Helm recorded a game-high nine ground balls.

Wednesday's home opener marked the first of four consecutive home dates for the Diplomats inside Shadek Stadium. The team will be back at home this Saturday at 1 p.m. to battle Messiah.