LANCASTER, Pa. – Playing on the road for the first time in over a month, the Haverford College men's lacrosse team faced a tough challenge at No. 19 Franklin & Marshall on Saturday. The Fords appeared up for the test early as they scored three straight goals, capped by a Ben Frost unassisted tally, to tie the game at 6-6 with 8:13 remaining in the second quarter. However, the Diplomats responded by showing why the national raters think so highly of them as the hosts scored nine of the next 10 goals during an eventual 18-12 victory.
Ben Frost led Haverford with four goals on Saturday, needing just five shots to reach a new single-game high for his career. Fellow seniors Garret Trucksess and Ryan Tetro also scored twice. Rob McLallen finished the game with four points, as he scored once and assisted on three other goals. Franklin & Marshall was led by seven goals and three assists from Luke Keating.
In a game that was eerily similar to Muhlenberg in terms of back-and-forth play, Zack Cohen took the opening face-off himself and had the Fords up 1-0 just seven seconds into the contest. The Diplomats held a 5-3 lead after the first quarter, but Frost did score two of his four goals during that opening period.
Haverford found the back of the cage on four of its five man-up chances Saturday. Tetro scored with 10:50 remaining in the second, while just 20 seconds later Trucksess was back in front of net on the man-up chance. Frost also scored just over two minutes later as the Fords tied the game at six. Nevertheless, F&M answered with five straight before Frost broke that stretch with another man-up goal during the third quarter.
The Diplomats' big run ended with them leading 15-7 after capitalizing on a man advantage of their own. Blake Brinster also scored in third for Haverford as the Fords trailed 16-8 after three periods. Tetro, Ben Fujinaga, McLallen, and Trucksess all found the back of the cage in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to overcome that extended run that started during the second quarter.
Franklin & Marshall finished the game with a 57-37 advantage in shots. Ethan Donlon made his first career start in goal and stopped three shots before Dylan Slack made five saves during the second half. Diplomats goalie Luke Mutterer made eight saves on Saturday.
Cohen had a strong showing at the face-off X as he won 14 of his 29 face-offs, collecting a game-high nine ground balls on those winning restarts. Eight different players scooped up at least two ground balls for the Fords. Griffin Brooks led the defense with a pair of caused turnovers.
Men's lacrosse will be back on the road next Saturday as the Fords travel to Dickinson to battle another nationally-ranked opponent. Haverford's game against the No. 10 Red Devils will be a doubleheader with the women's team and is slated for a 3 p.m. opening face-off in Carlisle.