ANDERSON, S.C. -- The No. 11 Anderson men's lacrosse team (9-3, 6-1) picked up their sixth South Atlantic Conference win on Saturday afternoon, earning a convincing 22-13 victory over the Catawba Indians (8-4, 4-4).
"Great to get back in the win column on the short week, especially going against a really tough Catawba team," said Head Coach Albert Mitchell. "Lots of guys stepped up, and we really played a team game on offense and in transition."
The Trojans got on the board first as Max Calabrese (Auburn, Ga.) scored his sixth goal of the season to kickstart an explosive offensive half for the Black and Gold. Moments after Calabrese gave AU the lead, Catawba found an equalizer, before Anderson went on a six-goal tear to round out Q1—a deficit that would prove too great for the Catawba Indians to overcome.
The first quarter ended with Ryan Bitterman (Alpharetta, Ga.) picking up three goals and an assist in a span of five minutes. He would go on to tally four more goals, pushing his point total on the game to eight, enough for him to surpass 100 career points.
Anderson tacked on five more goals in Q2, conceding only two, to carry a 12-3 advantage into halftime.
Brayden Bushnoe (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) contributed a trio of goals and pair of assists on the night, while Radyn Badraun (Mission Viejo, Calif.) added a hat trick of his own along with one assist. The duo also accounted for five ground balls.
Matthew Rodgers (Carmel, Ind.) and Cole Sparks (West Islip, N.Y.) both scored their 18th goal on the season, while Ryan Butch (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Jacob Kirchhofer (McKinney, Texas) both picked up their fifth of the campaign.
AU's FOGOs went 26 of 36 from the X, each winning 13 faceoffs, with Aiden Dixon (Forest Hill, Md.) tallying two goals, an assist and seven GBs and AJ Rush (Chantilly, Va.) recording one goal and five GBs.
Defensively, the Trojans forced 12 Catawba Indian turnovers. The effort was led by Tyler Hodowanec (Reading, Pa.), Grier Martin (York, Pa.) and Nash Perry (Buford, Ga.), who all contributed two CTOs on the afternoon.
Anderson looks to continue their success in SAC play next Saturday (April 12), when they face Wingate on the road.
