SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A back-and-forth battle between Anderson's men's lacrosse team and that of Embry-Riddle (FL) favored the Trojans at the final whistle, after AU scored seven unanswered to win the fourth quarter 9-2 for a 21-14 victory.
"It was great to see the team battle through some adversity against a very tough Embry-Riddle team," said Head Coach Albert Mitchell. "We weren't perfect but made plays down the stretch in crunch time when it mattered most and went on a big run."
The first quarter ended with Anderson holding a narrow 5-4 advantage over Embry-Riddle, before the Eagles outscored the Trojans 3-2 in the second 15 minutes of play to level the score at 7 going into the break. Both sides tallied five goals in Q3, sending the game into the fourth at 12-12. The Trojans opened the final period scoring six unanswered, a deficit that proved to be too much for the Eagles. Anderson won the fourth quarter 9-2 to claim the 21-14 win over Embry-Riddle.
Junior midfielder Brayden Bushnoe (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) scored a career-high eight goals in the contest, claiming the first and last goals of the game. He was joined on the scoresheet by nine other Trojans, including Radyn Badraun (Mission Viejo, Calif.), who recorded a hattrick on the day, and Ryan Bitterman (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Cole Sparks (West Islip, N.Y.), who each secured a brace.
AJ Rush (Chantilly, Va.), Jack Trevino (Sugar Hill, Ga.) and Garrett Krsul (Lutz, Fla.) each collected their first goals of the season, while Trojan goalie Bobby Devenport IV (Wildwood, Ill.) got his first start of the season and added nine saves to his resume.
Anderson outshot Embry-Riddle 59-44 and recorded 32 groundballs to ERAU's 23. The Trojans went 26-of-37 in faceoffs, with sophomores Rush and Aiden Dixon (Forest Hill, Md.) splitting the statistic with 13 wins each. AU completed 14-of-15 successful clears, while holding ERAU to 17-of-24.
The Black and Gold now look ahead to next week's match-up against North Greenville, when they hope to avenge last season's 11-9 loss to the Trailblazers. The game is set to start Friday (Feb. 21) night at 7:00 PM.
