WASHINGTON, D.C. — Despite a strong showing from Fitz McLaughlin, Catholic fell to Franklin and Marshall on Carlini Field on Saturday afternoon. 

In a contest that saw snow fall throughout pregame warm-ups and the first half, the Cardinals hung tight with the team from Lancaster, Pa, in the open half before the Diplomats pulled away in the final 30 minutes.

McLaughlin led Catholic's offense with a hat trick while seniors Connor Pierce and Ryan Carroll each netted a pair.

After F&M opened the scoring just 30 seconds in, McLaughlin and Victor Rosado found the net to give Catholic an early lead. The Diplomats responded, however, stringing together five straight goals to jump out to a 6-2 lead and eventually took a 7-4 advantage to the first-quarter break.

The second quarter is when the Cardinals really came into form. After F&M stretched the lead to 9-4, Catholic went on a 5-1 run to close the stanza.

After Pierce netted his first on the game, senior midfielder Luke D'Ambrogi left his imprent on the game, facilitating strikes by both Carroll and Pierce. D'Ambrogi then turned scorer himself with 2:53 remaining in the second to pull the Cardinals within two at 10-8.

It felt like the momentum was shifting toward Catholic entering the break. With 17 seconds remaining, senior Kevin Ortlieb forced a turnover and after Matt Ford scooped up the ground ball, defender Mason Russo rushed forward before finding Carroll, who converted the chance with just three ticks left on the first-half clock. 

During Catholic's 5-1 run to end the half, face-off man Cooper DiCicco won five straight cleanly, all five ground balls himself. He won 54.2 percent of his draws in the contest, scooping up 11 total ground balls.

While Catholic only trailed by one entering the halftime interval, it was all F&M following the restart. The Cardinals were held scoreless in the third quarter and only mustered one goal over the closing 30 minutes.

Collin Stein had a strong game for Catholic, scooping up five ground balls and causing one turnover. Pierce and Rosado each claimed three ground balls while freshman defender Sam Pikul grabbed two ground balls and caused two turnovers.

Diplomat attackman Tommy Garofalo scored seven goals while Christian Sullivan netted four to lead the way for F&M, who entered the game receiving votes in the USILA Coaches Poll and ranked No. 20 in the NIKE USA Lacrosse Poll.

Catholic will now hit the road for four-straight road contests against teams ranked or receiving votes in the polls. Next up for the Cardinals is No. 20 Stevenson in Owings Mills, Md., on Wednesday, March 1. Opening face-off is set for 7 p.m.