Game Notes

Last Week

Franklin & Marshall fell behind early last Wednesday at Stevenson and could not recover from that deficit in a 21-11 defeat at Stevenson. The Mustangs came into the contest receiving votes in the most recent national poll. The Diplomats outscored the Mustangs 6-2 during the fourth quarter, but that was not nearly enough to recover from a 16-4 first half deficit that saw the hosts leading 10-2 after 15 minutes. Jack Luviano headlined the offensive efforts for Franklin & Marshall with a hat trick, while Colin Hueston, James Moroney, and Christian Sullivan each scored two goals.

Last Time vs. Gettysburg

The Bullets jumped out to a 9-0 advantage in an eventual 15-7 win over the Diplomats a season ago. F&M had the game within five after scoring six of the next eight goals, but came no closer during the final 15 minutes. Cullen Decker had a huge hand in the comeback attempt with three goals and three assists, while Tommy Garofalo and Christian Sullivan each tallied a pair of goals. Gettysburg used a varied attack throughout the victory as 10 different Bullets got their name on the scoresheet.

Gettysburg finished with a 41-29 edge in shots and a 38-26 advantage in ground balls. The Bullets won 14 face-offs, compared to 12 for the Diplomats. Matthew Freeman had the most success at the X with seven wins over his 13 face-off attempts. Pierce Archer grabbed a team-best six ground balls, with teammate Kyle Craig adding four GBs and three caused turnovers. Sage Garito made five saves during the first half before Eric Mueller added six more during his turn in cage over the final 30 minutes.

Last Time vs. Ursinus

The Diplomats are in search of Centennial Conference victories and its was during this game a year ago that F&M took a huge step towards qualifying a spot in the Centennial Conference Tournament when they won by an 18-16 score. Will Mollihan recorded seven points in the CC matchup as he put the attack in motion all game long with six assists. Christian Sullivan added four goals to the attack as ten different Diplomats scored throughout the key Centennial Conference victory.

Ursinus outshot F&M by a slight 43-41 edge, but a combined 15 saves from the F&M goalies helped flip the game in the Diplomats' favor. Sage Garito made nine saves during the first half, while Eric Mueller added six more during the second half. Mueller came up with four of those saves during the fourth quarter as Ursinus was repeatedly denied its chance at the game-tying goal.

Gettysburg Preview

The Bullets have five double digit goal scorers on the year, including three 20-plus goal scorers who are led by Quinton Mather's 27 goals. Jack Dunleavy has a team-leading 43 points with 24 goals and 19 assists. One area the Diplomats may be able to capatilize on is the faceoff X where the Bullets are winning just 36.1 percent of the restarts. They make up for that on the defense end with 123 caused turnovers on the year while goalie Chase Morgan is stopping over 54 percent of the shots he has faced while allowing just 9.35 goals per game.

Ursinus Preview

The Bears bring a balanced attack into the game as six different players have scored at least 10 goals on the year for an offense that is averaging 10.79 goals per game while allowing 10.62 goals per game on the defensive end. Ursinus is an even 6-6 on the year, sporting a 2-2 record in Centennial Conference play. The two sides have split results where F&M owns a win against Arcadia who defeated Ursinus by an 11-10 score. However, the Bears most recent Centennial Conference victory came against Haverford in overtime, a squad that defeated the Diplomats to start the Centennial Conference schedule.

Centennial Conference Leaders from Franklin & Marshall (Top 10)

Goals
6. Kai Kelly - 36
5. Christian Sullivan - 42

Ground Balls
1. Adam Soper = 90

Caused Turnovers
4. Kyle Craig - 27

Face-Off Percentage
5. Adam Soper - 56.9%

Goals Against Average
7. Sage Garito - 11.28

Save Percentage
6. Sage Garito - .512

Saves
4. Sage Garito - 132