OWINGS MILLS, Md. – The Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team battled No. 8 Lynchburg to a 13-12 final on Saturday to wrap up Stevenson's Mustang Classic. Neither team scored more than two goals in a row during the back-and-forth battle that saw the teams level on the scoreboard seven times throughout the 60 minute battle.

The Diplomats were paced offensively by a three players who each recorded hat tricks. Cullen Decker led F&M with five goals, with Tommy Garofalo and and Christian Sullivan each added three each. Will Mulligan also made his way onto the scoresheet with one goal while adding two assists.

F&M took a 4-3 lead after the first 15 minutes of play as Sullivan and Decker tallied the final two goals of the period. Earlier in that quarter, back-to-back goals just 50 seconds apart from Garofalo and Sullivan gave the Diplomats their first lead of the afternoon. Lynchburg took a 7-5 lead into the half on a strength of a 4-1 second quarter, with Mulligan registering his goal just over four minutes before the break.

Franklin & Marshall had the better of the play during the third as strikes from Decker brought F&M within a goal twice, while Garofalo knotted the game at eight. F&M was last tied at 10 following Decker's goal early in the fourth quarter.

That goal from Decker was part of a fourth quarter which saw the Diplomats score a pair of man-up goals and hold a 15-9 edge in shots. In spite of those stats in favor of the Diplomats, it was Lynchburg who came away with 13-12 victory. F&M finished the contest with a 55-45 advantage in shots, while Lynchburg held a 29-26 edge in shots on goal. Sage Garito made at least three saves during each quarter and finished with 16 for the contest while his counterpart made 14 saves.

Lynchburg held a slight edge at the faceoff X by winning 16 of the 29 restarts, while owning an overall 37-32 edge in ground balls. Kevin O'Connor's four ground balls led eight Diplomats who finished with multiple GBs on the afternoon.

Following a pair of back-to-back nationally-ranked showdowns this weekend, the Diplomats will turn their attention to the Centennial Conference slate which opens on Saturday, March 25 at 3 p.m. against Haverford inside Shadek Stadium.