LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 8 Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team ran its record to a perfect 4-0 following a 17-11 victory against Elizabethtown under the lights of Shadek Stadium on Wednesday evening. The Diplomats scored the first six goals of the contest during the wire-to-wire victory. The Blue Jays, a team receiving votes in the latest USILA national rankings, did trim that early deficit to 13-10 early in the fourth quarter before F&M's four consecutive goals squandered any further thoughts of a comeback.

Blake Target and James Moroney paced the attack with four goals, while Target's helper give him a team-high five points. Will DeMuth added another hat trick, scoring three goals to go along with one assist. A.J. Rigsby (2 g, 2 a) and Will DeMuth (2 g, 1 a) also found the twine on multiple occasions.

Franklin & Marshall used a 14-7 advantage in shots during the first 15 minutes to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Moroney got the attack started early with two goals in the opening 2:24 of regulation. Kai Kelly continued his torrid start to the season, with Target and Rigsby also adding tallies during the opening quarter.

The run extended into the second quarter when Colin Hueston made it 6-0 before the Blue Jays finally snapped their scoreless stretch after nearly 18 minutes of lockdown defense from the Diplomats. Even when the Blue Jays did get on the board, they were unable to get back-to-back goals during the first half as DeMuth, Eddy Madden, and Moroney helped give the Diplomats a 9-3 lead at the break.

F&M's lead grew to a game-high eight goals when Target scored twice and Hueston added his second goal during the third quarter. Elizabethtown was not going to go down without a fight though, as DeMuth's man-up goal came during the Blue Jays' 6-1 run that made the score 13-10 with just over 12 minutes remaining in regulation.

With the momentum seemingly hanging in the balance, F&M went back to its leading goal scorers as Rigsby, Moroney, Target, and DeMuth each tallied during a span of 4:19 in the final period to stretch the lead back to 17-10. Elizabethtown added a goal with one minute in regulation, but it was too little, too late in the 17-11 final.

The Diplomats finished the contest with a 49-36 advantage in shots and a 44-32 edge in ground balls. Franklin & Marshall was extremely strong on its restarts as Connor Helm took all 30 face-offs on Wednesday and won 19 of them. That effort at the face-off X led to a team-high nine ground balls. Kyle Craig was a strong presence for the F&M defense, adding seven more ground balls and causing a pair of turnovers. Sage Garito stopped 13 of the 24 shots on goal that he faced during the 60 minutes, running his record to a perfect 4-0.

Men's lacrosse will have a full week before wrapping up its four-game homestand next Wednesday, March 9 when Kenyon comes to Shadek Stadium for a 4 p.m. opening face-off. Both teams will enter that contest with undefeated records on the young season.