PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team returned to its winning ways on Friday afternoon by doubling up Ohio Wesleyan, 14-7. The neutral site game was played at Shady Side Academy where the Diplomats scored the first three goals of the game and led by as much as 10-2 early in the third quarter of the wire-to-wire victory.
Mason Montrella led the attack with three goals, while Matt Marino, Liam Timmins, Dillon Mannix, and Carter Connors each found the back of the cage on two occasions. Ben Dale was the top point producer with five points on one goal and four assists, while Eli Crystal and Ryan Rubino also scored throughout the win. It was another strong performance from Teddy Scarborough in goal as he turned away 13 of the 20 shots on goal that he faced. Scarborough's efforts nearly completely neutralized Ohio Wesleyan who had a 20-18 advantage in shots on goal and 40-31 lead in total shots.
After Crystal opened the game's scoring just under two minutes into the contest, Montrella got his day off to a great start with two first quarter goals. The Diplomats nearly had a first quarter shutout before the Battling Bishops scored with five seconds remaining in the period and cut the lead to a single goal early in the second.
Franklin & Marshall would shortly thereafter take control of the game for good as it ran off seven consecutive goals during a stretch that extended into the third quarter. Mannix and Timmins tallied both of their goals during that run while Scarborough stopped five shots in the second period alone.
After F&M went nearly 15 minutes without allowing a goal in the first and over 15 minutes during the extended run, Ohio Wesleyan got back-to-back goals on two different occasions during the second half. Nevertheless, F&M had already done its damage before Marino scored twice in the second half in addition to Montrella and Connors capping their multi-goal performances.
Helping the defensive efforts was an effective man-down defense which held Ohio Wesleyan scoreless during five different chances at the man advantage. George Hardy joined Dale and Marino in causing a pair of turnovers to aide the defensive effort as all 15 of Ohio Wesleyan's turnovers came at the hands of the F&M defense. John Bolognesi, Luke Topley, and Owen Hire all tied the team lead with three ground balls.
Men's lacrosse will be back on the road this coming Tuesday when the Diplomats make their only trip out of Pennsylvania during the regular season as they head to Virginia to take on nationally-ranked Christopher Newport. That March 3 game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. opening face-off.
