CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The Franklin & Marshall men's soccer team earned its first Centennial Conference victory of the young conference slate with a 2-1 win at Washington College on Wednesday night. The Diplomats (4-4-1, 1-2 CC) certainly made the most of their opportunities as they scored on their only two shots on goal while the defense made that stand up by allowing just three total shots on goal.
First-year Vahe Kassabian certainly found a key moment for the first goal of his career as he scored during the 53rd minute of play for the eventual game-winning goal. Kassabian's goal put his team up 2-0 at the time. The Shoremen would get one of those back in the 76th minute of play.
Nevertheless, that goal would be the all the closer the Shoremen could get as Diego Moreno made a pair of second half saves to complete the victory. The final stop of the night from Moreno came with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation time as Washington College's Niland Gallo was making a bid for his second goal before Moreno thwarted that final attempt.
Franklin & Marshall opened the night's scoring during the 35th minute of play as Nico Palacios finished a pass from Nico Gonzalez. Palacios' tally was his third of the season as all three of his goals this year have resulted in 2-1 victories for the Diplomats. The goal for Palacios was the fifth of the sophomore's career. A defender for F&M, Gonzalez was credited with the first assist of his senior season – and third of his career – as the Diplomats went up 1-0 during the first half.
Washington College finished the night with a 13-7 advantage in shots while attempting the only three corner kicks of the evening. However, F&M's defense allowed just three of those shot attempts to reach Moreno en route to the victory.
Men's soccer returns home to Tylus Field this Saturday as the Diplomats welcome rival Dickinson to Lancaster for a noon start in Centennial Conference action.
