LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team got back to its winning ways on Wednesday afternoon with a 12-5 victory against visiting Messiah inside Shadek Stadium. Leading 4-3, the Diplomats (3-1) scored twice in the final seconds of the first half as part of a 5-0 run that spanned until early into the fourth quarter while handing the visiting Falcons (2-1) their first defeat of the season.
Kai Kelly recorded another hat trick to pace the attack as nine different players scored for the Diplomats throughout the win. Colin Hueston finished with a team-best four points after tallying one goal and assisting on three others.
Franklin & Marshall trailed just once all game when the Falcons struck first, but goals from Hueston and Dillon Mannix gave the Diplomats a 2-1 advantage midway through the first quarter. Messiah knotted the score at two-all before Kyle Russell found his first of two goals with 42 seconds remaining in the first quarter. F&M would go on to outscore the visitors during each of the four quarters of play to build their lead throughout the contest.
Kelly scored two of his three goals during the second quarter, while Jack Luviano cracked the scoreboard with just 12 seconds to remaining before the half as the Diplomats went from the 5:39 mark of the second quarter until the 14:01 point of the fourth quarter without allowing a goal. During that span of nearly 22 shutout minutes, Liam Timmins, Owen Hire, and Kelly all found the back of the cage during the third quarter. Hire's goal was particularly notable as he snipped a shot from midfield with the goalie caught in a compromised position for his first career goal off a pass from fellow defender Jackson Barnhill.
Leading 9-3, F&M also got goals down the stretch from Charlie Bernicker, Russell, and Gavin Schulz to seal the 12-5 victory. F&M bombarded the Messiah defense all night with shots, finishing with a 65-37 advantage in that category. The Falcons made 22 saves, but Sage Garito was even more impressive as he stopped over 72 percent of the shots he faced on his way to a 13-save performance before Teddy Scarborough made one final stop as he wrapped up the final 5:26 in the cage for the hosts.
The Diplomats were able to stay on the attack most of the game with Adam Soper winning 17 of his 20 face-off attempts while adding a team-best 11 ground balls during those efforts. Soper was one of 13 Diplomats who finished with multiple ground balls as the Diplomats held a 54-29 ground ball advantage. Pierce Archer added five ground balls to his totals as both he and Alex Fraser tied for the F&M lead with two caused turnovers.
Franklin & Marshall's extended home stand to start the 2024 season will continue Saturday when the Diplomats welcome Catholic to Shadek Stadium. That contest will be a 1 p.m. face-off on March 2.
