ANDERSON, S.C. -- The 11th-ranked Trojans (8-3, 5-1 SAC) suffered their first South Atlantic Conference loss of the season on Wednesday evening, falling just short of the No. 3 Saints (11-1, 6-0), 18-14.
"Tough loss for our team," said Head Coach Albert Mitchell, "a few things we can clean up and learn from in this one. I'm excited for this opportunity to see how we bounce back and regroup."
Momentum favored the Saints to open the contest, as they picked up four-straight to kick off the game. The Trojans tallied one of their own with five minutes left in Q1 as Garrett Krsul (Lutz, Fla.) buried one off a pass from Cole Sparks (West Islip, N.Y.). Limestone then added two more goals, boosting their lead to 6-1 before Anderson's leading-scorer Ryan Bitterman (Alpharetta, Ga.) got on the board with a pair of goals to close out the opening quarter.
A three-goal run from the Black and Gold and a highlight goal from Max Calabrese (Auburn, Ga.) brought the home team within one to close out the first half. Limestone led 8-7 going into the break.
A back-and-forth third quarter saw Radyn Badraun (Mission Viejo, Calif.) score three-straight Trojans goals, followed by Bitterman picking up his fourth of the night to level the game at 11 with four minutes left in Q3.
The Saints would then go on to record six-straight, to create a deficit AU was unable to come back from. Limestone took home the 18-14 victory.
Anderson outshot Limestone 58 to 50, though 32 of the Saints' shots came on target compared to AU's 27. The Trojans made 17 of 21 successful clears, while Limestone made 24 of 29.
In goal for AU, Adin Laughlin (Wooster, Ohio) tallied 13 saves on the night. The Trojans went 29 for 35 from the X, with Aiden Dixon (Forest Hill, Md.) winning 16 of 18 faceoffs and AJ Rush (Chantilly, Va.) winning 13 of 17.
Chris Czulada (Boynton Beach, Fla.) recorded four caused turnovers and two groundballs, while Nash Perry (Buford, Ga.) contributed two CTOs and collected four GBs.
The Trojans are back home this Saturday (April 5) to host the Catawba Indians. Opening faceoff is set for noon.
