LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team battled back from an 8-3 deficit with five goals in the fourth quarter, including the game-tying goal with four seconds left, but Muhlenberg's Kyle Farris netted the golden goal in the third sudden-victory period for a 9-8 victory in Centennial Conference (CC) action on Saturday.

Farris, who tallied a game-high four goals and an assist, got revenge after hitting the post in the first overtime period with the game winner off a pass from Mickey Norton at the 2:53 mark to help the Mules (4-4, 2-3 CC) post just their second win over the Diplomats (7-3, 3-2 CC) since regaining varsity status six years ago.

Netminder Chris Marcozzi (Springfield, PA/Malvern Prep) came away with a season-best 14 saves, four of which were made in overtime. F&M took advantage of the Muhlenberg penalties, scoring five out of nine man-up opportunities. Jake Gladstone (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greeley) registered all three goals on extra-man chances and was the F&M player behind the helmet on the game-tying goal with time expiring in regulation.

Farris gave Muhlenberg its biggest lead of the game with 1:01 gone in the fourth quarter for his third goal and an 8-3 advantage. Already scoring two out of three goals man up, the Diplomats kept doing what suited them best and reeled off three more with the Mules down a player over a stretch of five consecutive F&M goals to knot the game at 8-all.

Bobby Atkins (Concord, MA/Loomis Chaffee) started the comeback with a goal at 12:08 thanks to a pass from Mark Hild (Denver, CO/Denve East). Three minutes later, Gladstone fired a shot from the right side to make it 8-5.

Sean Oliver (Wilton, CT/Wilton) connected with Hild after a good clear attempt, before Noah Wilkinsky (Ardmore, PA/Valley Forge Military) drove in for the unassisted tally to get within one at 8-7.

With 29 seconds remaining, Muhlenberg drew its eighth penalty to give the Diplomats one last chance to send the game into overtime. Shane Brennan (West Chester, PA/Haverford School) found Gladstone with four ticks to complete the hat trick and get more time against the Mules.

In the second overtime period, Hild thought he became the hero for F&M when his shot went past Andrew Bell but the officials called it back for a crease violation.

The Diplomats held a slight 3-2 edge at the beginning of the second quarter thanks to goals from Gladstone, Brett Leppert (Baltimore, MD/John Carroll) and Oliver but Muhlenberg used a 6-0 run over the next 25 minutes for a five-goal lead.

The Mules were 14-for-19 in face-offs and held a 41-35 shot advantage, while Bell made 13 saves.

F&M returns to action on Saturday at Haverford. Game time is 1:00 p.m.

2008-04-05