LANCASTER, Pa. – Playing a matchup of the top two ranked teams in the Centennial Conference, the No. 10 Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team fell by a 13-11 score against ninth-ranked Dickinson on Wednesday evening. The Red Devils (12-0, 5-0 CC) jumped out to a 6-3 lead after 15 minutes and the Diplomats (10-3, 3-2 CC) could not pull back even despite several runs throughout the contest.

One highlight for F&M on Wednesday night was Blake Target scoring the 100th goal of his career during the third quarter. His milestone was part of a 6-3 run to close the contest in favor of the hosts who ultimately saw their comeback come up two goals short. Target finished the night with two goals and two assists, while fellow 100-plus goal scorer A.J. Rigsby finished with two goals and three assists. Kai Kelly led the team with four goals.

Despite the Red Devils having their strongest overall quarter rght out of the gates, it was the Diplomats who struck first as Kelly scored just under two minutes into the contest. James Moroney and Colin Hueston also tallied during the opening quarter, but the Diplomats found themselves in a 6-3 hole after 15 minutes.

The Diplomats either tied or won the final three quarters of regulation, but could string together enough goals to level the score. Kelly had his hat trick wrapped up by the 1:01 mark of the second quarter on the strength of two second quarter goals, but Dickinson tallied with just 15 seconds remaining in the half to lead 8-5 at the break.

The third quarter offense was all Target as he scored his milestone goal with 9:35 to play in the period before tallying a man-up goal just seven seconds before the end of that quarter. Trailing by three entering the final 15 minutes, goals from Will Mollihan and A.J. Rigsby brought F&M to within a single goal with 9:10 still remaining in the contest. In spite of four consecutive goals from the host Diplomats, Dickinson registered three of the final five goals during regulation time, with Rigsby and Kelly adding to their strong performances during the comeback bid.

Franklin & Marshall finished the contest with a 48-40 advantage in shots, but 18 saves from the Red Devils' Chris Brandau were just enough to keep the Diplomats at bay. Sage Garito made 11 saves of his own in the crease. F&M also won the ground ball battle while the Red Devils claimed 16-of-27 face-offs at the X. In addition to his team-leading five points, A.J. Rigsby picked up a team-leading six ground balls. Noah Isaacson and Spencer Hall each caused a pair of turnovers in the Centennial Conference battle.

Men's lacrosse will continue Centennial Conference play this Saturday when the team travels to Ursinus for a 12 p.m. opening face-off with the Bears. F&M and Ursinus currently occupy the fourth and fifth place spots in the Centennial Conference standings, but the Diplomats do have a win over Muhlenberg who currently sits in third place entering the weekend.