JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--The No. 7 Trojan Men's Lacrosse team (2-0) traveled to Jacksonville for a neutral site matchup against the No. 14 Eagles of Embry-Riddle (3-1) on Saturday afternoon and handed ERAU their first loss of the season with a convincing 18-9 victory.
"A lot of resilience today," said Head Coach Albert Mitchell. "We did a great job in the 2nd half once again. We need to find a way to come out a little stronger to start, but I'm proud of how tough we were to weather the storm against a great ERAU team and a really tough defense."
AU got on the board first with back-to-back goals from Brodie Deutsch (Wilmington, N.C.) and Radyn Badraun (Mission Viejo, Calif.). The Eagles rebounded, however, to level the score at 2 to end the first.
The second quarter saw each offense boast three more goals. Anderson's scores came from the sticks of Ryan Bitterman (Alpharetta, Ga.), Sammy Lewis (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Brayden Bushnoe (Myrtle Beach, S.C.). The score was even at five going into the break.
The Black and Gold took control offensively following halftime, winning the second half 13-4, including an 8-1 fourth quarter. The win marks Anderson's second-straight Top-20 victory to start the season.
Badraun led the offensive efforts for Anderson, combining two goals and five assists for seven points on the afternoon. The senior has now surpassed 200 total career points.
Deutsch and Bushnoe both recorded four-goal games, while Bitterman and Lewis joined Badraun with braces. Will Hazelhurst (Greenville, S.C.) also got on the scoresheet with his first goal of the season.
Anderson outshot Embry-Riddle 57 to 40, 36 of which came on frame to ERAU's 20. The Trojans forced 18 saves from the Eagles' goalie, while Adin Laughlin (Wooster, Ohio) posted 11 saves for AU.
The Trojans went 20-of-31 from the X, with FOGOs Aiden Dixon (Forest Hill, Md.) and AJ Rush (Chantilly, Va.) each winning 10 faceoffs apiece.
AU is off next weekend but returns home next Wednesday (Feb. 25) to host Lander at 7 PM.
