LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team never trailed in an 11-6 victory at home against Ohio Wesleyan on Sunday inside Shadek Stadium. The Diplomats scored the first three goals of the afternoon as the Battling Bishops faced a multiple goal deficit throughout the remaining time.
Preston Blue and Matt Marino both finished with hat tricks, while Dillon Mannix scored the opening goal before dishing out five assists for a team-leading six points. Ryan Roberts and Kai Kelly also found the back of the cage on multiple occasions while goalie Teddy Scarborough finished with 12 saves..
The Diplomats' 3-0 stretch to start the contest was their biggest run of the game. After scoring the opening goal just under three minutes into regulation, Mannix dished out a pair of assists to Marino as F&M led 3-0 just over 10 minutes into the contest. Ohio Wesleyan never scored back-to-back goals during the entire afternoon and would not get its first goal until the 14:19 mark of the second quarter. Kelly had F&M's only two goals of the second quarter to help his side take a 5-2 lead into the half.
Blue's hat trick came entirely in the second half as he scored twice during the third quarter before capping his three-goal performance just 41 seconds into the final period. Roberts and Marino added the final two goals of the game for the 11-6 final.
Franklin & Marshall finished the contest with a 42-33 advantage in total shots. The Battling Bishops put 23 of their attempts on goal, but Scarborough made at least three saves during three of the four quarters to pick up his second win of the season. Ohio Wesleyan additionally turned the ball over on 18 occasions, with 14 of those being a direct result of the defensive pressure from the Diplomats. Jackson Barnhill led the team with four caused turnovers while also collecting four ground balls. Luke Topley (three CTs), Declan Connaughton (two CTs), and Owen Hire (two CTs) also forced multiple giveaways from the OWU attack.
The Diplomats were issued nine penalties throughout the contest, but did not allow a goal during any of those man-up chances. At the face-off X, Owen Krause won a team-best five of those restarts and finished with a pair of ground balls.
Men's lacrosse will now have nearly a week away from competition as the Diplomats get set for Spring Break where they will play a pair of games in Tennessee. The first of those two contests down south will come on Saturday, March 8 when they are hosted by Sewanee in what will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
