MUHLENBERG, Pa. – Trailing 11-4 entering the final quarter, the Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team scored the only six goals of tha period but was ultimately on the wrong side of an 11-10 final despite the valiant comeback bid. The fourth-seeded Mules built that lead by scoring the only nine goals of the second and third quarters in a game of runs for both teams.
After a tough defensive battle when these teams met in the regular season, Frankin & Marshall seemed to have the attack working early as Dillon Mannix and Jacob Szczepanski both scored during the opening five minutes. The Mules countered with two of their own, but tallies from Mason Montrella and Matt Marino had the Diplomats leading 4-2 after one quarter.
F&M's final goal of the quarter came on the man-up chance, but that would be its only goal for nearly 37 minutes as Muhlenberg scored six in the second and three more in the third. The two sides finished with Muhlenberg holding a slight 40-38 edge in shots throughout regulation, featuring a 29-8 advantage during the middle two periods when Muhlenberg made its large run.
Despite facing a seven-goal deficit with just 15 minutes to play, the Diplomats outshot Muhlenberg 19-5 during that remaining time as the final shot traveled wide of the goal as time expired. The score was still 11-4 with just over eight minutes to go before Matt Melkonian snapped the offensive cold spell. Nick Dotro and Mason Montrella scored exactly one minute apart before Kai Kelly's goal made it 11-8 with 4:34 to play.
Two big saves from Muhlenberg goalie Max Kunnath loomed large before Liam Timmins made it just a two-goal deficit with 46 seconds to play. F&M won the ensuing face-off and Eli Crystal's goal made it 11-10 with 15 seconds remaining in regulation time. Muhlenberg won the next face-off, but a quick caused turnover from by Pierce Archer allowed F&M to get the ball across midfield with just one second remaining.
F&M took timeout with that one second showing on the scoreboard and had a long shot attempt that sailed wide of the cage and allowed the Mules to escape the furious comeback bid. Peter Della Volpe and Archer both caused a pair of turnovers in their final games. Declan Connaughton collected three ground balls to lead eight F&M players who had multiple GBs. Teddy Scarborough made six saves on the night while Owen Krause won 10 of his attempts at the face-off X.
