SALISBURY, N.C.--The No. 8 Trojans traveled as the South Atlantic Conference Championships 5-seed to face the 4-seed No. 10 Catawba Indians on Saturday afternoon and avenged the regular season loss, claiming a 12-9 victory to advance to the SAC Semifinals.
Nearly one month to the day of the first meeting this season between the Trojans and the Catawba Indians that saw Anderson fall by a ten-goal deficit, the Black and Gold had something more to prove in the SAC Quarterfinals. After conceding the first goal 90 seconds into the game, the Trojans quickly took the lead and never gave it up through the final whistle.
"Great to see the team go out and battle the way they did today," said Head Coach Albert Mitchell. "We executed the game plan at a high level and made big plays down the stretch."
Trojan captain Brodie Deutsch (Wilmington, N.C.) tallied the first two goals on the day for AU, before assisting Matthew Rodgers (Carmel, Ind.) for the third. Deutsch went on to record one more assist for a total of four points in the game, leading the Trojans. Rodgers scored again in Q3 to also contribute a brace on the day.
Cole Sparks (West Islip, N.Y.) and Brayden Bushnoe (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) each totaled three points, with Sparks tallying a goal and pair of assists, while Bushnoe earned a hat trick. Bushnoe also found himself at the X during the contest, following an injury to Trojan FOGO stalwart, AJ Rush (Chantilly, Va.). Bushnoe went 2-for-2 in faceoffs and added four groundballs to the stat sheet.
Rounding out the scoring for Anderson was Ryan Bitterman (Alpharetta, Ga.), Radyn Badraun (Mission Viejo, Calif.), Frankie Pagnotta (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and Will Hazelhurst (Greenville, S.C.), who all added one goal apiece. Bitterman also had an assist on the afternoon, while Badraun contributed three caused turnovers and three groundballs.
Aiden Dixon (Forest Hill, Md.) won 12 of 21 faceoffs taken, collected six groundballs and recorded an assist.
In goal for the Black and Gold, Bobby Devenport IV (Grayslake, Ill.) boasted ten saves and conceded just nine goals from 37 shots faced.
Anderson boasted 46 shots, with 24 coming on frame, compared to Catawba's 37 shots, 19 of which were on target. AU completed 18 of 21 clears successfully and collected a total of 31 groundballs.
The scoreline favored AU 3-2 after the first quarter and 7-4 at halftime. Following Q3, Anderson held an 11-7 advantage, before winning the game 12-9.
The Trojans continue their postseason run next Wednesday (April 29), traveling to face the regular season champions, No. 4 Wingate. The game is set for 7 PM.
