NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team traveled to No. 2 Christopher Newport on Tuesday afternoon for another battle against a top-ranked opponent. The Diplomats (3-2) gave the nationally-ranked Captains (8-0) all they could handle for a majority of the game with the exception of a dominant second quarter from the hosts that paved the way to their 19-12 victory.

Dillon Mannix posted another hat trick to lead four multi-goal scorers that included Liam Timmins, Ben Dale, Jack Luviano, and Mason Montrella. Matt Marino also found the back of the cage against the second-ranked team in the country, while tying with Luviano for the team lead in assists (2). Despite the onslaught of shots, Teddy Scarborough stopped over half of the shots on goal that he faced while making a career-high 20 saves.

The Diplomats were up 3-1 midway through the first quarter as Mannix, Marino, and Montrella had F&M out to the early lead. However, the Captains ran off 13 consecutive goals to put the game out of reach as the visitors did not score for the entire second quarter, with CNU holding a 22-2 advantage in shots during the period.

When F&M did break out of its offensive slump, the Diplomats finished the final 30 minutes of game action with a 9-5 second half scoring advantage. That included a 5-1 edge during the final 19 minutes of regulation time.

Christopher Newport finished the contest with a 59-29 advantage in shots, but the Diplomats were very efficient on the attack as they scored 12 of the their 25 shots on goal. Owen Hire, Ben Fenton, and Luke Topley each caused two turnovers. Owen Krause had the strongest performance at the face-off X as he went 8-for-13 during his attempts. Krause and Hire tied for the team lead with five ground balls.

Men's lacrosse will return home to Shadek Stadium this Saturday when the Diplomats welcome local foe Elizabethtown to campus. The opening face-off in that contest is set for 12 p.m.