COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Ian Desenberg and Lou Harrison had quite a connection going on Senior Day, but 11th-ranked Franklin & Marshall's arsenal of offensive weapons carried the day in an 18-9 Centennial Conference decision.
Desenberg scored three goals – all man-up markers assisted by Harrison – and notched his 100th career point for the Bears (2-9, 1-5). Desenberg , who moved into a tie for fifth all-time at Ursinus with his 80th goal, is the 11th player in school history to hit the century mark in points.
Junior Elliott Shevitz followed up a 22-save effort in last week's win at McDaniel with 21 more stops to become the second goalie in program history to make 20 or more saves in back-to-back games. Freshman Joe Quintiliano registered his first career goal for the Bears.
F&M (10-2, 4-1) got five goals and an assist from Luke Keating, two goals and four assists from Sean Rogers, and a pair of tallies from three others in racking up 57 shots for the afternoon for the defending conference champions.
The Diplomats' prolific attack came out with a flurry, putting three shots into the back of the net inside the first five minutes to put a damper on the Bears' Senior Day momentum.
Undeterred, Ursinus took advantage of a pair of F&M turnovers to turn the tide. Sophomore Evan Scott caused one himself, picked up the ground ball and went coast to coast to break the ice with his fourth goal of the season. Just over a minute later, junior Sam Isola finished through contact to make it a 3-2 game at the 4:45 mark of the first quarter.
A non-releasable penalty on the Bears opened the floodgates, as the Diplomats netted two goals in a span of six seconds to wrest momentum back from the hosts. The Blue and White added two more before the end of the period, outshooting Ursinus 19-4 and grabbing a 7-2 lead.
Keating stretched the run of unanswered markers to five before junior Peter DeSimone bounced a right-handed shot past Thomas Moore. The two sides traded a pair of goals going into halftime, with Harrison getting on the board and freshman Joe Mercurio unloading a rocket into the back of the net to cap the first-half scoring with 4:17 to play.
Desperate for a quick start to the second half, the Bears conceded three consecutive goals to the Diplomats to open the third quarter and fell out of range from there. Desenberg deposited a trio of extra-man goals with help from Harrison, and Quintiliano opened his collegiate account with 2:18 to play in the contest.
Timmy Hoarty was 12-for-16 on faceoffs for the Diplomats, who owned a 19-12 advantage in the circle. Moore finished with 12 saves and Doug Mongiardo caused four turnovers.
Gerard Brown and Brett Wojtkowiak each had a caused turnover for the Bears, who also honored Connor Ream and Miles Matule alongside Desenberg and Harrison in a pregame ceremony. Sophomore Luke Nachazel marked a new career high with two caused turnovers.
The men's lacrosse team travels to Haverford for a CC tilt next Saturday, April 21.