Franklin men's soccer had already let one halftime lead slip away in HCAC play this season. They weren't about to let that happen a second time.

The Grizzlies got the upper hand early and held off a second-half charge from visiting Manchester for a 2-0 triumph at Faught Stadium on Wednesday night.

"First half we were really good, in total control," Franklin coach Josh Hughes said. "Second half, I think we had a little bit of the same issue that we had against (Mount St. Joseph). There was a little bit of panic — you could tell we were a little uncomfortable with the lead — but I think we proved that we could handle it."

After controlling the ball for most of the early going, the Grizzlies (2-11, 1-4 HCAC) got on the board 22 minutes into the match when Russell Bilohlavek served a nice ball into the box from the left side that found the head of Kalao Ebalo. That shot, one of two that Franklin put on goal in the first half, held up through the midway point.

The Spartans began to turn up the heat after halftime and Franklin was forced to play a lot of defense, especially after going a man down when Enzo Crivari was called for a second yellow card with just under 20 minutes to go. But a combination of strong effort and a little bit of luck — Manchester put four shots off the crossbar on the night — were enough to hold the fort.

Then, the Grizzlies got some insurance with 8:50 left when Bilohlavek sent a ball ahead for Carter Wynberry, who made a run and put a low shot past Spartan netminder Will Martin to give the home side a two-goal advantage.

Easton Terry had three saves, all in the second half, to preserve the shutout win for Franklin.

"The guys just beared down and got it done," Hughes said. "There's nothing that goes into that on my end; that's all them. They just decided they were going to get it done, and they did."

Franklin goes on the road Sunday afternoon for another conference match at Bluffton.