HICKORY, N.C.--Anderson Men's Lacrosse's postseason run continues after the Trojans traveled to face Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday afternoon in the NCAA Quarterfinals and came away with a 9-7 victory.
The Black and Gold made the trip to Hickory looking to avenge the regular season road loss to the Bears earlier in the season and did just that, knocking out a second-straight South Atlantic Conference opponent to claim a spot in the Final Four.
"Really proud of the effort today," said Head Coach Albert Mitchell, "especially on the defensive end. We had incredible goalie-play, and the D in front of him gave him the shots he wanted. We were tough from top to bottom and made plays on O and at the X when it mattered most!"
Defensively, the Man of the Match was Trojan goalie Adin Laughlin (Wooster, Ohio) who boasted a career-best, program-record 25 saves on the afternoon. Allowing only seven goals from 53 shots faced, Laughlin recorded a .781 save percentage—the best of his career.
On the other end of the field, Radyn Badraun (Mission Viejo, Calif.) had an all-star performance, accounting for more than half of the Trojans' offensive output with five goals, including the go-ahead goal with six minutes to play and final insurance goal with less than a minute on the clock.
Also on the scoresheet for the Black and Gold was Will Hazelhurst (Greenville, S.C.) who scored Anderson's first to level the game at 1-1 in the opening five minutes. The scoreline favored the Bears 4-1 at the conclusion of Q1, before Brayden Bushnoe (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) combined one goal with three from Badraun to even the score at 5-5 going into the break.
Aiden Dixon (Forest Hill, Md.) made a statement to open the third quarter, winning at the X and going straight to goal for a 6-5 AU lead, a mere five seconds into Q3. At the conclusion of the third quarter, LR led 7-6.
Jacob Kirchhofer (McKinney, Texas) got his name on the board in the fourth, making the game 7-7. Badraun then found the game's final pair of goals—taking on the entire Bear defense for the go-ahead, then capitalizing on an LR empty-netter for insurance—to boast the Black and Gold to a 9-7 win.
The Bears more than doubled the Trojans' shot total, recording 53 to Anderson's 25. Of the shots, LR had 32 on frame compared to 13 from AU.
The Black and Gold now travel to face top-seeded University of Tampa, who welcome the Trojans with an impressive 20-1 record. Their only loss this season came in overtime at Melvin and Dollie Younts Stadium.
The National Semifinal matchup will be this Sunday (May 17) at 1 PM.
