LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team outscored Elizabethtown 13-4 between the second and third quarters on Saturday afternoon to pace a 19-10 win against the visiting Blue Jays. Today's victory avenges an overtime defeat to the local rivals from just a season ago.
After scoring the game-winning goal during the final seconds against Kenyon last weekend, Jack Luviano led the Diplomats' attack with seven points (four goals, three assists) in this non-conference matchup. Kyle Stevenson and Colin Hueston also recorded hat tricks during the victory, with Stevenson also assisting on a goal to give him four points on the afternoon.
The Diplomats scored three goals in a span of 3:26 during the first quarter as two goals from Luviano and another from Dillon Mannix had the hosts up 3-2 after 15 minutes. F&M had two separate 3-0 runs in the second quarter to begin to pull away. Hueston, Mannix, and Luviano all registered unassisted goals to start the quarter, with Jackson Barnhill's first career goal making the score 7-4.
Hueston, Kai Kelly, and Luviano scored the final three goals of the opening half to give the Diplomats a 10-4 lead at the break. That run was extended to 6-0 when the teams returned from halftime as Ryan Roberts, Stevenson, and Hueston each scored during the first three-plus minutes of the third quarter. Stevenson would add two more goals later that quarter as Charlie Bernicker also found his way onto the score sheet, giving F&M a 16-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Franklin & Marshall's final 3-0 run of the game featured goals from Kelly, Kyle Russell, and Brendan Murphy in the eventual 19-10 final.
In addition to nearly doubling up the Blue Jays on the scoreboard, F&M was very close to doing the same in shots as the hosts held a 60-31 advantage in that category. Adam Soper had a very strong day of the face-off X as he won 20 of the 32 restarts and finished with 14 ground balls for third-highest total in school history after he broke the school's single game record with 19 to start the season against Lebanon Valley. That total helped F&M hold a 44-36 advantage in ground balls.
Sage Garito made five saves on the afternoon to record his sixth win of the season before Teddy Scarborough added four more stops during the final seven-plus minutes of regulation. Kevin O'Connor forced a pair of turnovers during the win to lead eight different Diplomats who finished with a caused turnover on the afternoon.
After playing seven of its first eight games at home, the Diplomats will now turn their attention to Centennial Conference play which opens next Saturday, March 23 at Haverford. F&M's conference opener is set for a 3 p.m. opening faceoff.
