LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team gave No. 15 Swarthmore all it could handle as the Diplomats (6-5, 0-3 CC) and Garnet (8-1, 2-0 CC) were tied at five all midway through the third quarter of Saturday's Centennial Conference matchup before the visitors scored five of the last seven goals during their 10-7 victory.

The Diplomats finished with a 50-41 advantage in shots and 25-22 edge in shots on goal, but 18 saves from Swarthmore goalie Drew Tyson proved pivotal in turning away the Diplomats. Sage Garito made 12 saves of his own for F&M who also held the advantage in ground balls (38-31) and face off victories (12-9).

It took over halfway through the opening period before either side could score, but the Garnet then did so twice in a span of 16 seconds to take a 2-0 lead. The CC matchup was a game of runs as the Diplomats answered with goals from Kai Kelly and Dillon Mannix which tied the score at two all. Swarthmore then ran off three straight goals that were answered by Liam Timmins, Mannix, and Kyle Russell to set the score at five-all with 9:38 to go in the third period of the defensive battle.

The string of consecutive goals only favored the visiting Garnet during that remaining time as they went up 7-5 before Kelly's second goal of the game set the score at 7-6 with 4:05 remaining in the third. Two more Swarthmore goals made the score 9-6, matching the Garnet's largest lead of the afternoon, before Russell tallied his second goal of the day to bring the score to 10-8 with exactly eight minutes left in regulation.

Franklin & Marshall combined for 27 shots during the second half, but eight Swarthmore saves during that time kept the Diplomats from coming any closer as the Garnet added the final goal of the afternoon with just over two minutes to play.

Mannix, Kelly, and Russell each scored two goals for the Diplomats, with Mannix adding one assist for a team-high three points. Adam Soper collected a game-high seven ground balls as he won 12 of the 21 face offs on Saturday. Both Owen Hire and John Bolognesi caused two turnovers to aid the defensive effort.

Men's lacrosse officially puts a wrap on its non-conference action when the Diplomats travel to Stevenson this Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game with a Mustangs squad that is currently receiving votes in the USILA national poll. Centennial Conference play resumes next Saturday, April 10 at 4 p.m. against the No. 11 Bullets of Gettysburg College.