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LANCASTER, PA - The Franklin & Marshall College men's lacrosse team moved up four places to 15th in the March 15 Laxpower.com Division III poll. Ranked #19 last week, the Diplomats improved their record to 2-1 with a 5-3 win over #19 Washington & Lee on March 13. Leading the team last week was attackman Steve Welsh (Jr., Lewes, DE/Cape Henelopen) who scored once and handed out two assists as F&M's win over W&L marked the Diplomats first over the Generals in Lancaster since a 10-9 overtime win on Sponaugle-Williamson Field on March 30, 1996. Franklin & Marshall put the game away in the first half as Welsh beat W&L goalie Ansel Sanders by circling behind the goal and ripping a shot over Ansel's left shoulder with 11:44 remaining in the first period for a quick 1-0 lead. F&M increased the lead to 3-0 by the conclusion of the first period as Vandy Vanderwarker (Sr., Keswick, VA/STAB) finished a feed from Chris Wathey (Sr., South Huntington, NY/St. Anthony's) with a shot while flying through the air after being checked from behind for a 2-0 lead. Wathey closed out the first period scoring by slamming a point blank shot past Sanders off an assist from Welsh with 1:36 left in the period. Overall, F&M outshot the Generals 7-3 in the period while staking themselves to a three-goal lead. The lead ballooned in the second period as Colin Hanley (Jr., Davidsonville, MD/DeMatha) side-armed a shot off an assist from Welsh which sailed through traffic and into the goal for a 4-0 lead with 7:13 remaining until halftime. In the Centennial Conference, Welsh ranks 15th in points (3.3 ppg) and 10th in assists (1.67 apg) as Welsh now has 49 goals and 40 assists for 89 points in his career. Overall, Franklin & Marshall ranks sixth in scoring offense (10.33 gpg), third in scoring defense (6.67 gpg), third in man-up percentage (44.4%, four-of-nine) and sixth in man-down percentage (65.2%, 15-of-23). Franklin & Marshall (2-1, 0-0 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on March 16 versus Keene State in Sanford, Florida. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. 2004 Laxpower.com Division III Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll (March 15) 1. Salisbury 2. Middlebury 3. Washington 4. Gettysburg 5. Nazareth 6. Cortland 7. Ithaca 8. Hampden-Sydney 9. Lynchburg 10. Springfield 11. Roanoke 12. Ohio Wesleyan 13. Whittier 14. St. Lawrence 15. Franklin & Marshall 16. Tufts 17. Geneseo 18. Hartwick 19. Stevens Tech 20. Wesleyan
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