OWINGS Mills, Md. – The Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team fell behind early on Wednesday night and could never recover from that deficit in a 21-11 defeat at Stevenson. The Mustangs came into the contest receiving votes in the most recent national poll.
The Diplomats outscored the Mustangs 6-2 during the fourth quarter, but that was not nearly enough to recover from a 16-4 first half deficit that saw the hosts leading 10-2 after 15 minutes. Jack Luviano headlined the offensive efforts for Franklin & Marshall with a hat trick, while Colin Hueston, James Moroney, and Christian Sullivan each scored two goals.
Hueston scored F&M's first two goals of the game, including the first goal on Wednesday night which came just 43 seconds into regulation. Ryan Roberts tallied a man-up chance to open F&M's scoring in the second quarter that also featured a goal from Luvivano. Liam Timmins had the Diplomats' only goal of the third quarter as the F&M defense began to settle in during the second half.
Franklin & Marshall matched Stevenson's largest run of the game with six unanswered goals from the 12:01 mark of the fourth quarter through when there was 4:01 remaining in regulation. Luviano started that stretch as his final two goals capped his hat trick with just 34 seconds in between his tallies. Sullivan then scored twice in a span of 29 seconds before Moroney registered back-to-back goals to cap the night offensively.
Dillon Mannix was one of eight Diplomats with multiple ground balls on the evening, finishing with a team-high five GBs. He was additionally one of seven F&M players who caused a turnover as Drew Martin led that category with two CTs under the lights. Sage Garito and Teddy Scarborough split time in the crease while each goalie finishing the night with six saves.
Tonight's game marked the final non-conference meeting of the regular season for the Diplomats who will now have the rest of the week off as they prepare for their next game against nationally-ranked Gettysburg which is slated for Wednesday, April 10 at 4 p.m.
