The season may be just six games old, but the Franklin & Marshall's men's soccer team took another step toward perfection in its 1-0 win Saturday over conference foe Muhlenberg.

The Diplomats (6-0, 1-0 Centennial Conference) took the lead in a dominant first half and overcame a shaky final 45 minutes to hold the Mules (3-1, 0-1) scoreless. F&M has yet to allow a goal in this special season — a season dedicated to the memory of senior midfielder Christopher Campbell.

Campbell, a two-time All-Centennial Conference selection at midfield, died suddenly Aug. 15 while jogging in his hometown of Narberth, Pa., one day before returning to the team to start practice for the upcoming season. He was 21.

The team was devastated by the loss. "We were lost and did not know what to do with the season," head coach Dan Wagner said. "It was the day before the preseason, and we had two ways to go. We had to either act like the death didn't happen and move on, or sit down, talk about Chris and remember him. That is how we went."

Senior forwards Ryan McGonigle and Chris Walters were Campbell's best friends, having spent much of their free time with him both over the summer and during the school year. "Chris (Campbell) was the heart and soul of our team. He was my best friend on and off the field. Whenever there was a hard task ahead of us, we could rely on him to bring fire to the game," McGonigle said. "We feel he is watching over us on the field."

The team, which came into the season ranked 18th in NCAA Division III, remembered Campbell by painting his No. 10 onto the sideline of their new artificial turf field. Each player touches the number before running onto the field.

"This season is a remembrance of him, and I think we will rise to the occasion and do well," said McGonigle, who leads the team with eight goals.

Walters said Campbell's dad called him and McGonigle before Saturday's game to pump them up and make sure they were ready to play.

"We think about Chris before we step on the field for every game. We miss him so much on the field. We have had a lot of players step up to fill his shoes, but he is definitely missed," Walters said. "It feels great to keep winning without him. We spent the summer together and every conversation we had was about this season. He was so excited."

The team originally decided to put the soccer season and practice on hold. They had a campfire meeting, and just spent time talking about Chris. At that point, McGonigle went to the Campbell residence, and his mom said she could not believe the team was not practicing. She said that was not what Chris would have wanted them to do.

"This was a huge weight on us, but every win we had has helped us go from the burden of wondering if it was going to be a good year to feeling we were honoring his memory by how we were playing," Wagner said. "We can't replace Chris on the field, but we are deep and have other guys who have stepped up and done well in his position."

In Saturday's game, the Diplomats missed a few early scoring chances before finally capitalizing. Danny Shuptar powered a kick that went just over the crossbar, and minutes later, Jason Keil took a shot that went just wide of the net. Brandon Corday also hit a shot that ricocheted off the near post. The clock was down to two minutes when Matt McCall lofted a perfect pass to the foot of Corday. The senior forward ran down the right side of the field and blasted a shot over the approaching keeper's head into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead in a half completely controlled by the Diplomats.

The second half, though, was a study in contrast, as the Dips seemed out of sync and complacent. The players were beaten in one-on-one matchups, and many passes failed to find their target.

F&M had two strong scoring chances just miss in the half. McGonigle unleashed a shot that hit the top of the crossbar, and Corday headed another ball just wide.

The rest of the half featured the Dips trying to maintain the lead, something they did thanks to the strong goalkeeping of Zack Zamek. The sophomore came up with three huge saves in the half, twice cutting off the angle and deflecting away hard shots by Muhlenberg forwards.

Mules forward Eric Miller broke free at the 17:05 mark and blasted a shot from five yards. Zamek punched the ball in front of the goal, where his defenders cleared it away. He came through with another diving save in the last three minutes to secure the win.

"This was a strange game, as it was played different than we were used to. I give Muhlenberg a lot of credit. They gave us a lot of trouble. Zack Zamek was spectacular. He has not had to make many great saves before today, but he showed why he has not let up a goal this year," Wagner said. "Normally, when we score a goal, the other team does not get possession. This was an anomaly today. We rarely play a game where we do not live in the other team's half, so I am not too worried. We are also adjusting to our new field as this was only our second game here."

 F&M's next home game is at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Frostburg State.