LANCASTER, Pa. – Coming off a Centennial Conference Tournament playoff appearance and with plenty of returning talent, the Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team is aiming high this spring. The 2026 season officially gets started at Lebanon Valley on Saturday, February 14. The home opener is slated for Tuesday, February 17 at 7 p.m. against Messiah and will be one nine chances to catch the team inside Shadek Stadium throughout the regular season.

Position Breakdown

Attack
Jack Luviano, Liam Timmins, and Jack Luviano have all been key contributors to this unit since arriving on campus. Timmins has 39 career goals and 26 assists entering his senior season, while Luviano has found the back of the cage at least 15 times during each of the past two seasons. Montrella is the top returning scorer as the junior tallied 32 goals last season. Sophomore Preston Blue worked his way into the starting lineup as a rookie and contributed 13 goals and 17 assists. Ryan Connelly, Jack Cicchelli, Dylan Reese, Alex Pilling, and Matthew Spagnoletti have each scored throughout their careers to provide extensive depth to the unit which is further bolstered by transfer Ben Dale who played in 14 games for Division I Providence a season ago.

Newcomers: Hayes Card, Daniel Perlman, Colin Song

Midfield
An All-American last season, Dillon Mannix provides another scoring threat as he tallied 23 goals on his way to first-team All-Centennial Conference recognition. Junior Matt Marino was another impact player during his time in the lineup as he scored 13 goals in nine games played during his first year with the program. Sophomore Eli Crystal also has starting experience in the midfield with 11 goals and nine assists during his rookie campaign. Seniors Matthew Giller, Carter Connors, and Braeden Klausner provide key veteran leadership to the unit, with juniors Jacob Szczepanski, George Hardy, Nick Dotro, and Rocco Ippoldo have each logged crucial playing time and experience in recent seasons. The sophomore class features Beckett Burley, Owen Metz, Gavin Pierson, and Hayden Roeder who are all ready to take another step forward with a year of collegiate experience.

Newcomers: Jack Goodwin, Max Kukuy, Ryan Rubino

Defense
A trio of juniors have all recorded double digit starts throughout their careers to make this the most experienced unit on the team. Luke Topley was an all-conference selection last year and has started every game during his career. His 23 career caused turnovers are already a top 30 mark in program history. Jackson Barnhill was another All-Centennial Conference performer in 2025. He has started each of his 34 career appearances and ranks among the top 20 players in program history in caused turnovers per game (0.75). John Bolognesi stepped into the starting lineup on a full-time basis last year and should have plenty of familiarity with this unit. Ryan Schappell, Jason Wagner, Nate Yanick, and Tyler Howe provide the senior leadership to the defense, with junior Cole Keefer and sophomore Mason Hudson further adding experience to the team.

Newcomers: Jack Kirchner, Davis Reilly

Goalie
Reigning Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Year Teddy Scarborough returns after a breakout sophomore season in which he allowed just 7.52 goals per game while stopping over 62 percent of the shots that he faced. The junior has already earned preseason recognition from USA Lacrosse Magazine as the anchor of what should be one of the most experienced defensive cores in the country. With Scarborough logging the majority of the minutes, classmate Max Russell and sophomore William Shaw have both appeared in two games. Shaw was called on for one start in 2025 and stopped 51.7 percent of the shots he faced.

Newcomer: Henry Griffith

Long-Stick Midfielders
Adding to the depth of the defense are four seasoned veterans who will man the LSM position. Owen Hire is the most experienced of that group with 50 career starts while already ranking 17th in school history with 41 caused turnovers. Classmate Will Bowen is another veteran on that unit. Juniors Alex Fraser and Declan Connaughton have logged 24 and 16 games played, respectively. Fraser has caused 15 turnovers during the past two seasons.

Newcomers: Will Caragol, Ben Fenton, PJ Hoag, Cole Morris

Face-Off
There will be plenty of strong options to give different looks to the opposition as four players return with collegiate experience. Sophomore Owen Krause had the highest face-off win percentage on the team last year at .428 in 13 appearances. Junior Connor Traynor (.355) and sophomore Braden Shipp (.373) give additional options to a unit that will only continue to grow with no seniors among them. Shipp was also a Centennial Conference Player of the Week during his rookie season. Although his experience came at Kenyon, sophomore Chris Worton won his face-offs at a .641 clip during his 2024 season in Ohio.

Newcomers: Luca Hoffman, Oscar Leohnis

Schedule
The Diplomats have challenged themselves with six of their regular season contests coming against teams that played in the 2025 NCAA Division III Tournament. Those teams are York (Pa.) (Feb. 21), Ohio Wesleyan (Feb. 27), Christopher Newport (Mar. 3), Endicott (Mar. 14), Dickinson (Apr. 15), and Gettysburg (Apr. 25). Defending Centennial Conference Champion Dickinson was the NCAA runner-up last season, while Gettysburg and Christopher Newport both played in the national quarterfinals. The game at Christopher Newport will be the only time during the regular season that the Diplomats will need to leave the state of Pennsylvania.

Centennial Conference Preseason Poll
The Diplomats finished in a three-way tie for third place in the Centennial Conference standings during the 2025 regular season and earned the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament before falling by a single goal to Muhlenberg during the opening game of the postseason. Coaches are expecting the Diplomats to be right in the thick of the playoff race again as they were predicted for a fourth-place finish in a vote of the conference's head coaches. Dickinson in the preseason favorite, with Gettysburg in second. Swarthmore, F&M, and Muhlenberg round out the projected playoff field.

Coaching Staff
Head coach Todd Cavallaro became the program's all-time winningest coach last season and has 168 wins and a .625 winning percentage during his first 18 seasons in Lancaster. He has guided the Diplomats to eight Centennial Conference Tournament appearances, three NCAA Tournament appearances, and two conference championships (2017, 2021). Rich Lefever will begin his 10th season as an assistant coach after being a part of both of those championship coaching staffs. Nolan Sachs, Nick Kirk, and Kyle McCormick '21 all won Centennial Conference Championships as players and will look to add to their resumes with the same coaching staff in tact from the 2025 season.