LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus Men's Lacrosse team opened Centennial Conference action against Franklin & Marshall on Saturday afternoon with the Diplomats wining the game 7-5.
 
 
The Diplomats scored a pair of goals in the first quarter and held that advantage into halftime in a low-scoring contest. Senior Ryan Dever got the Bears onto the board at the 10:34-mark of the third quarter to make it 2-1 before the Diplomats responded with a goal at the 5:27-mark that brought their advantage back to two at 3-1. Ursinus ripped off three straight goals in a span of 2:10 to take their first lead of the game at 4-3 which carried into the start of the fourth quarter. Junior Lars Homan started the run with a goal at the 2:35-mark before classmate Harry Sweitzer followed 30 seconds later to tie the game. Sophomore Jared Laskin gave Ursinus its first lead with a goal at the 15-second mark of the third quarter. However, F&M responded with three unanswered goals of their own in a seven-minute span in the fourth quarter. Senior Christopher Pucciarelli cut the lead down to one at 6-5 with 1:42 left in regulation, but the Diplomats won the ensuing faceoff and scored an insurance goal to end the game.
 
 
F&M held a 44-28 advantage in total shots and a 22-14 edge in shots on goal. The Diplomats held a slight 26-25 edge in ground balls while the Bears won 11-of-16 faceoffs behind junior Nils Updale taking 10 of them. First-year goalkeeper Colin Daroch made 15 saves during the 60 minutes of action in a valiant effort and Diplomats goalkeeper Teddy Scarborough tallied nine saves in the full time.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Wednesday, March 26th as they will travel to face Washington College at 7:00 p.m.