GETTYSBURG, Pa. – It was a defensive showdown when the Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team traveled to No. 15 Gettysburg on Wednesday afternoon. The Diplomats held the nationally-ranked squad to its lowest offensive output of the season, but it was not enough in the 8-5 Centennial Conference final.

The Diplomats led 4-3 heading into the halftime break, but a 5-0 third quarter in favor of the Bullets swung the momentum in favor of the hosts during Gettysburg's eventual win. The only goal of the first quarter came when Kai Kelly scored with 27 seconds remaining to give his side the early lead.

Gettysburg scored the next three goals, but F&M appeared to be finding its offensive footing as it scored three times in a span of less than two minutes to claim a 4-3 advantage before the break. James Moroney set up two of those goals as Liam Timmins, Dillon Mannix, and Jack Luviano scored in succession to help F&M take a 4-3 lead with 3:22 to play in the first half.

The game swung in the Bullets' favor during the third quarter as they had the only five goals of that period to take an 8-5 lead. Looking for the late comeback, the Diplomats outshot Gettysburg 10-3 during the final 15 minutes, but were only able to crack the defense once during that time as Moroney's goal allowed him to finish with a team-high three points.

Teddy Scarborough made his first collegiate start and saved 17 of the 25 shots on goal that he faced as the hosts finished with a slight 38-35 edge in shots. F&M won the ground ball battle by a 31-24 edge, with Adam Soper going 9-for-17 at the face-off X. He collected eight of the team's ground balls on the afternoon. Owen Hire caused a pair of GC turnovers as the Diplomats forced eight giveaways throughout the game.

Men's lacrosse wraps up its three-game road stretch this coming Saturday when the Diplomats head to Ursinus for a 12 p.m. opening faceoff in Collegeville.