LANCASTER, Pa. – Playing their first-ever night game on the new turf field, the Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team posted its second straight win of the season with a 15-9 decision over Lycoming in non-conference action on Tuesday night.

Mark Hild (Denver, CO/Denver East) led the Diplomats (2-0) offensive attack with four goals and three assists for a game-high seven points. Shane Brennan (West Chester, PA/Haverford School), Sean Oliver (Wilton, CT/Wilton) and Bobby Atkins (Concord, MA/Loomis Chaffee) each added two goals. The Warriors (0-2) got four goals and one assists from Dan Cannon, while Kyle Gilfoy made 20 saves on 53 shots in the cage.

Lycoming managed to get on the board first, but F&M scored the next 12 out of 14 goals to take a commanding 13-3 lead and halted a late comeback attempt by the Warriors for the win.

Jim Cusick gave Lycoming its only lead of the night with the first goal off a pass from Cannon just 1:07 after the opening whistle. The Diplomats answered with three consecutive goals all by different players for a 3-1 advantage. Brennan, Hild and Brendan Kearney (Alexandria, VA/Bishop Ireton) found the back of the net in the run.

Cannon squeezed his first goal in just before F&M went on a 4-0 spurt for a 7-2 lead after the first quarter. Brennan and Hild scored their second of the quarter, while David Steiner (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greeley) and Atkins finished feeds from Hild.

Shawn Lowman notched the third goal for the Warriors to start the second quarter, but the Diplomats did not let up and scored the next four goals to close out the half. Lycoming managed to string together five straight goals midway through the third quarter and into the fourth, pulling within 12-8 with 11:44 left to play.

Staying consistent with the play of the game, F&M added on three more goals including one on an extra-man opportunity by Jeff Ritter (Watchung, NJ/Watchung Hills) for his first collegiate goal. Defensively, Sean Murphy (Towson, MD/Gilman) collected seven ground balls and won six faceoffs for the Diplomats.

F&M returns to action on Sunday against Merchant Marine Academy. Game time is 1:00 p.m.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Lycoming............  2  1  3  3 -  9
Franklin & Marshall.  7  4  1  3 - 15
 
Lycoming SCORING:
GOALS: Dan Cannon 4; Jim Cusick 3; Andrew Stoner 1; Shawn Lowman 1.
ASSISTS: Jim Cusick 2; Dan Cannon 1; Shea Conway 1; Rick DeNenno 1;
         Steven Henz 1; Ed Williams 1.
 
Franklin & Marshall SCORING:
GOALS: Mark Hild 4; Sean Oliver 2; Shane Brennan 2; Bobby Atkins 2;
       David Steiner 1; Scott Hahn 1; Brett Leppert 1; Jeff Ritter 1;
       Brendan Kearney 1.
ASSISTS: Mark Hild 3; Peter Moon 2; Sean Oliver 2; Shane Brennan 1;
         Scott Hahn 1; David Steiner 1.

2008-02-27