Franklin & Marshall Holds Off Garnet
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- The Garnet men's lacrosse team fell to visiting Franklin & Marshall 9-6 in Centennial action Wednesday night despite two goals each from attackmen Stelios Wilson '09 and Tyler Bradshaw '10.
The Diplomats improve to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the Conference, getting two scores apiece from Sean Oliver (Wilton, Conn. / Wilton), Mark Hild (Denver, Colo. / Denver East), and Bobby Atkins (Concord, Mass. / Loomis Chaffee).
F&M scored twice in the first 10 minutes, the second coming after a Swarthmore penalty. Oliver fed Hild for his team-leading 16th score of the season at 6:39.
The Garnet evened the score with a man-up goal at the end of the first period. Bradshaw (Marietta, Ga. /Lassiter) found a seam on the left post and beat the F&M goalie on the low side for his fourth goal of the season at 1:31.
Garnet midfielder Anthony Phalen (Needham, Mass. / Needham) put the hometown team up 3-2 after scooping up a loose ball in front of the Diplomats’ cage and firing it in the net at 10:57.
F&M turned on the jets in the second period, running off three straight goals. The Diplomats produced a man-up goal of their own, working the perimeter before Shane Brennan (West Chester, Pa. / Haverford School) snapped his ninth goal in at the seven-minute mark. The Diplomats added two more scores, both by Oliver to take a 5-3 lead into halftime.
F&M’s Scott Hahn (Ellicott City, Md. / Loyola-Blakefield) netted the first goal of the second half, putting the visitors in front 6-3 with a short from the right side at 11:09. A man-up score by the Diplomats’ Hild (his second of the night) came at 9:10.
The Garnet snapped the F&M five-goal streak at the 4:10 mark when junior midfielder Todd Friedman (Miami, Fla. / Miami-Palmetto) snuck it by the Diplomat goalie from the short post. Swarthmore scored just eight seconds later when sophomore attack Gavin Musynske (Floral Park, N.Y. / Floral Park) fed Bradshaw for his second goal of the contest.
Swarthmore kept the momentum rolling, cutting the deficit to one when Bradshaw separated an F&M defender from the ball and found Wilson (Moorestown, N.J. / Moorestown) alone in front of the net for a goal at 4:03.
F&M took control of the game two minutes later when Atkins scored a big insurance goal for the Diplomats, cashing in on a one-on-one opportunity for his second goal of the night with 2:19 left in the game. F&M’s Brett Leppert (Baltimore, Md. / Boy’s Latin) tallied the final goal, his third, with 38 second to go.
The Garnet were hurt by eight penalties to just two for Franklin Marshall—the Diplomats cashed in on three of the opportunities. Swarthmore held a 11-8 edge in faceoffs while Franklin & Marshall made up the difference by out-shooting the Garnet 42-25.
Swarthmore goalie Frank Mazzucco (Redding, Conn. / Joel Barlow) posted 14 saves while his F&M counterpart Chris Marcozzi (Springfield, Pa. / Malvern Prep) registered 11 stops.
Garnet midfielder Will Predun (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. / Cold Spring Harbor) collected a game-high seven ground balls.
Swarthmore is on the road for its next four games, traveling north to Allentown this Saturday, March 29, facing the Muhlenberg Mules at 1:30 p.m. in Centennial action.