TAMPA, Fla.--The Black and Gold's historic season came to a close on Sunday afternoon, with the No. 7 Trojans falling to the No. 1 Spartans in Tampa for the South Region Finals. 

"Congratulations to Tampa on winning the region," said Head Coach Albert Mitchell. "It was a great game, and we fought hard for 60 minutes." 

The Final Four matchup started at 1 PM in Florida on Sunday and, similar to that of the previous meeting between Anderson and Tampa earlier this year, the game was tied at the end of the first quarter. 

Cole Sparks (West Islip, N.Y.) picked up his two goals on the afternoon to open the scoring for the Trojans, finding passes from Brayden Bushnoe (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and Brodie Deutsch (Wilmington, N.C.). Radyn Badraun (Mission Viejo, Calif.) then closed out the quarter, getting on the scoresheet with an unassisted goal to bring the game to 3-3. 

The second quarter saw Tampa pick up four more goals and shutout the Trojans—a combination that ultimately proved to be AU's demise. 

Despite a three-goal third quarter from the Trojans, with goals from the sticks of Deutsch, Sammy Lewis (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Matthew Rodgers (Carmel, Ind.), the first half deficit Anderson faced proved to be too great to overcome. 

Ryan Bitterman (Alpharetta, Ga.) snagged one more in the fourth, but Anderson fell 13-7. 

Anderson advanced to the Region Finals after topping No. 10 Barton, No. 2 Wingate and No. 6 Lenoir-Rhyne. The win over Barton marked AU's first-ever NCAA Championships win. The Black and Gold then went on to face South Atlantic Conference foes in the Bulldogs and the Bears, and despite having a 0-3 combined record against Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne this season, the Trojans were successful in knocking out both sides on their home turf to advance to the Final Four. 

"I'm so proud of our team and how we battled all year," said Mitchell. "We did things that not many people expected us to be able to do in just our sixth year." 

The Trojans opened the season with four-straight victories over nationally-recognized opponents in North Greenville, Embry-Riddle, Lander and Montevallo. The win over NGU in the season-opener marked Anderson's first win in 'The Holy War' series in four years. 

AU then kicked off SAC play with a dominant road victory at Mars Hill, before hosting No. 2 Tampa for the first-ever Top-5 matchup of any sport in Anderson Athletics history. Anderson defeated Tampa in overtime, handing the Spartans their first loss since the 2025 National Championship, and earning themselves the No. 2 spot in the national rankings. 

The season continued with Anderson holding the title of Best Scoring Offense in the NCAA for the entirety of the year, averaging 20+ goals per game for the entire season. At both the halfway mark and the end of the regular season, AU led the country in assists, points, groundballs and faceoff win percentage. 

After bowing out of the SAC Championships against Wingate in the Semifinals, Anderson earned their second-straight NCAA At-Large bid, again hosting the opening game of the tournament.  

Leading the team this year were eight Trojan seniors—Bitterman, Badraun, Bushnoe, Czulada, Hazelhurst, Lopez, Rodgers and Watson—an irreplaceable squad that will be greatly missed. 

"This senior class leaves an incredible legacy, one that our team will have to fight to live up to every day. What we accomplish in years to come will be a reflection of what they have poured into us."