ANDERSON, S.C.--The No. 8 Anderson Trojans (1-0) opened the season hosting the No. 17 North Greenville Trailblazers (0-1) on Saturday morning and picked up a 19-10 win to earn their first victory in The Holy War rivalry series since 2022.
The game favored the visitors early, as NGU held a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Trojan captain Brodie Deutsch (Wilmington, N.C.) earned Anderson's first goal of the season to open the scoring in Q2. The second quarter also saw Trojan goals from the sticks of Radyn Badraun (Mission Viejo, Calif.), AJ Rush (Chantilly, Va.), Ryan Bitterman (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Cooper Laughlin (Wooster, Ohio). As NGU responded with scores of their own, the Trailblazers took a 7-5 advantage into the break.
The offensive efforts continued to alternate through the third quarter, and the contest was level at 9 going into the final 15 minutes of play. It was then that Anderson's offense decided the game's narrative, as they outscored the Trailblazers 10-1 in the fourth quarter, including eight unanswered goals to close out the game.
The Trojans claimed a dominant nine-goal victory in the Top-20 matchup.
"Great to see the team come together and make a run in the 4th the way we did," said Head Coach Albert Mitchell."It was a testament to the work they did in the off season. Proud of these guys battling back."
Leading the scoring for the Black and Gold was none other than senior attackman Bitterman, who boasted a program record 63 goals last season. He opened this year's resume with six goals on the afternoon and added an assist to lead both teams with seven total points.
2025 Trojan assist leader, Cole Sparks (West Islip, N.Y.), also picked up right where he left off, tallying five assists along with a goal in the contest.
New to the squad this year, C. Laughlin, a transfer from Palm Beach Atlantic, made a statement in his AU debut, recording a hattrick as well as a trio of groundballs.
Badraun and Matthew Rodgers (Carmel, Ind.) also totaled three points on the day, with Badraun recording a brace and an assist, while Rodgers put up one goal and a pair of assists.
Anderson outshot North Greenville 67 to 35, with 44 of those coming on target for AU compared to 25 for NGU.
Defensively, AU recorded nine caused turnovers, led by Chris Czulada (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Tyler Hodowanec (Reading, Pa.) who each forced two. The Trojans picked up 48 groundballs compared to North Greenville's 23.
Building on their strong reputation, Anderson dominated from the X, winning 25 of 33 faceoffs for a .757 winning percentage. Rush went 13-of-16, and combined for one goal, one assist and ten groundballs, while Aiden Dixon (Forest Hill, Md.) went 12-of-17 with seven GBs.
In goal for the Black and Gold, Adin Laughlin (Wooster, Ohio) neared his 2025 save record, boasting an impressive 15 saves. With the mark, he eclipses 150 career saves.
The Trojans return to action next Saturday (Feb. 14) for a neutral site game against Embry-Riddle hosted at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla. The game is slated for 1 PM.
