ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team wrapped up the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 9-6 victory at Elizabethtown on Saturday afternoon. The Diplomats scored the first five goals of the game and led by as much as 9-3 late in the fourth quarter.

Mason Montrella was the star on offense as he scored five goals during the victory, but Preston Blue added a hat trick with another assist for four points while Kai Kelly also found the back of the cage during the win. Dillon Mannix and Ryan Roberts both had multiple assists to set up the attack.

Montrella struck early and often as he scored the first three goals of the game in just 12-plus minutes. Blue had the opening goal of the second quarter before Montrella tallied for the fourth time to give his side a 5-0 lead with just over four minutes remaining before the break.

The host Blue Jays scored just once during the opening half as F&M goalie Teddy Scarborough made eight saves during the first 30 minutes. He would finish his afternoon with 13 saves overall. Blue also started F&M's scoring during the second half before Kelly, Blue, and Montrella tallied the first three goals of the fourth quarter to give the Diplomats their largest lead of the afternoon. Elizabethtown slightly trimmed the lead late with three goals during the final three minutes of regulation.

Franklin & Marshall finished with a 47-37 advantage in shots and still had one more save than the Blue Jays, holding a 13-12 edge. The Diplomats also won the ground ball (23-21) and face-off (10-8) battles during the win. With 10 face-off victories, Braden Shipp was one of eight Diplomats with multiple ground balls. Jackson Barnhill, John Bolognesi, and Owen Hire led those efforts with three ground balls each.

With a strong close the non-conference slate, the Diplomats open Centennial Conference play next Saturday, March 22 with a 12 p.m. opening face-off versus Ursinus inside Shadek Stadium.