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LANCASTER, PA - The Franklin & Marshall College men's lacrosse team's games with Marymount University and Ursinus College have been changed due to residual snow in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The Diplomats, who were to have opened their season on March 1 at home versus Marymount, will now face the Saints on Wednesday, April 1 at 4:00 p.m. on Williamson Field. In addition, the F&M-Ursinus College Centennial Conference season opener scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 has been changed from Ursinus to a neutral site game at Swarthmore College as the Bears and the Diplomats will square off at 7:30 p.m. under the lights. Entering the season, F&M is ranked 25th in the 2003 Inside Lacrosse Division III men's lacrosse pre-season poll. The 2002 Eastern College Athletic Conference South Region Champions, the Diplomats finished the year 9-7, 3-3 in Centennial Conference (CC) play. In the CC playoffs, F&M fell by a 7-6 final in the semifinals at then #1 nationally ranked and NCAA Championship runner-up Gettysburg College. Overall, F&M's season record marked the program's second winning season since a 9-4 finish in 1996, a year in which the Diplomats placed ninth in the final national poll. The 2001 Diplomats also finished 9-7, 3-3 in Conference play. In the ECAC South Region title game, Franklin & Marshall routed the University of Scranton 18-3 as the Diplomats advanced to the post-season for the second time since a 15-9 loss in the 1995 NCAA Quarterfinals. In addition, it marked the second time in the 45-year history of the sport at Franklin & Marshall College, that the men's lacrosse program earned a bid to the ECAC playoffs and the first post-season championship since claiming the Middle Atlantic Conference title in 1990. This year, Franklin and Marshall will look to co-captains and midfielders Jon Singer (Sr., Reisterstown, MD/Boy's Latin) and Chad Tyler (Sr., Newtonville, NY/Western Reserve) to lead the team back to the Centennial Conference Championship and the NCAA playoffs. A 2001 Honorable Mention and 2002 Second Team All-Centennial Conference selection, 2002 marked the second year Singer led the Diplomats in goals scored as he recorded 27 as a sophomore and 24 last year. In addition, he chipped in 10 assists for 34 points to raise his career numbers to 66-25-91, 34 goals short of surpassing Paul Friedman '75 (99) for eighth in goals scored in F&M program history. Overall, F&M is one of three Centennial Conference teams ranked in the Top 25 as Gettysburg is second and CC Championship runner-up Washington is third. Swarthmore (34) and Dickinson (53) round out the nine-team conference's representation in the national poll as five teams are ranked. Historically, the men's lacrosse program is one of the strongest in NCAA Division III as F&M has registered nine conference championships in the last thirty years with a 46-year record of 302-297.
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