ANDERSON, S.C. -- The Trojans (4-2, 2-0) pulled off the biggest upset in program history on Saturday afternoon, handedly defeating the nationally-ranked No. 3 Bears (5-1, 1-1) at Spero Financial Field by a score of 15-9. 

"We played hard and executed the game plan well," said Head Coach Albert Mitchell. "We made a lot of gritty, tough plays that put us in a position to finish the next one. Proud of the effort, a lot to learn from this one." 

Forty seconds into the game, the Bears found the back of the net, but the score was quickly leveled at 1 with Chris Czulada (Boynton Beach, Fla.) finding his first goal of the season off a pass from Garret Krsul (Lutz, Fla.). LR picked up a second goal in Q1, before the Trojans tallied three unanswered from the sticks of PJ Fenchak (Timonium, Md.), Radyn Badraun (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Ryan Bitterman (Alpharetta, Ga.) to take the lead. Up 4-2 three minutes into the second period, the Trojans claimed the lead and held it for the remainder of the game.  

With his fourth hattrick of the season, Bitterman led the Trojan offense with four points on three goals and an assist. He also collected four groundballs and forced two LR turnovers. Cole Sparks (West Islip, N.Y.) recorded a slate of stats of his own, tallying a pair of goals, an assist and three GBs. Fenchak also notched a brace on the afternoon and was joined on the scoresheet by Max Calabrese (Auburn, Ga.), who recorded his first goal of the season, and Aiden Dixon (Forest Hill, Md.), who secured a goal for the first time since the season opener. 

In his first collegiate start, Adin Laughlin (Wooster, Ohio) boasted 13 saves on 54 shots faces, holding LR to a season-low nine goals. The Trojan defense held the Bears to a .167 shot percentage, LR's lowest since March of 2022. 

LR outshot AU 54-42, but of those, Anderson had 29 on-frame to Lenoir-Rhyne's 22. The Trojans again finished a game of perfect clears, going 21 of 21, while holding the Bears to 19 of 24. Anderson won 14 faceoffs, compared to Lenoir-Rhyne claiming 13, and the Bears totaled 14 saves to Anderson's 13. 

The Black and Gold now enter another three-game road-stretch, traveling to Lander next weekend (March 15) for the final non-conference game os the season. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 1 PM.