LANCASTER, Pa. – In a battle of two programs that are currently receiving votes in the national polls, the Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team emerged with a 14-12 win against visiting Endicott on day one of its home tournament. The Diplomats advanced to the championship game where they will face Hamilton at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Hamilton defeated Connecticut College by an 8-7 score in the second game on Saturday afternoon.
Ben Dale had a game for the record books as he scored twice and dished out seven assists for a total of nine points. Those seven assists marked the most for a Diplomat since Luke Keating had seven assists against both Dickinson and Muhlenberg during the 2021 championship season. Setting up goals seems to run in the family as the school record for assists in a single game was set by Jon Dale (Ben's father) when he registered 13 helpers against Cortland State during the 1990 season. Matt Marino and Mason Montrella were the benefactors on multiple occasions as they finished with four and three goals, respectively. Dillon Mannix added two more goals while Liam Timmins, Carter Connors, and Jack Luviano also rattled the back of the cage.
The visiting Gulls tallied the game's opening goal but Dale scored one of his two goals just 43 seconds later to mark the only time Endicott led despite the tight final score. The Diplomats were up 3-2 at the end of the first quarter as Dale's first tally started a 5-1 run for the hosts as they eventually grew their lead to 5-2.
Endicott climbed back to within a single goal on three different occasions during the second and third quarters, but could never equalize against the Diplomats' fast-paced attack. The Gulls' final chance to tie the game came when they made the score 8-7 with 7:41 to play in the third quarter. However, Timmins set up Montrella and later finished a feed from Dale to make the score 10-7. Marino and Mannix opened the scoring in the fourth quarter to push F&M's lead to a game-high four goals, 12-8, before they finished off the 14-12 win.
Franklin & Marshall finished the game with a 45-37 edge in shots and a 30-25 advantage in shots on goal. Goalie Teddy Scarborough stopped 13 shots to record the win in the cage. Both teams finished with 38 ground balls, but the Diplomats held to the Gulls to just 20-of-28 on their clearing attempts. Jackson Barnhill caused four turnovers and scooped up six ground balls to lead the Diplomats. F&M won 17 of the 29 faceoffs, with Connor Traynor (12-for-17) seeing the most success at the X.
In addition to F&M's game with Hamilton College at 5 p.m. on Sunday, the tournament action will resume with Endicott battling Connecticut College in the consolation game that is set for a 2:30 p.m. start.
