ANDERSON, S.C.--Anderson Men's Lacrosse (14-4) hosted the Barton Bulldogs (10-8) in the First Round of the NCAA DII Championships, after earning an at-large bid from the selection committee following the success of the season. The 7-seed Trojans welcomed the Conference Carolinas Champions, 10-seed Barton Bulldogs, on Wednesday afternoon and came away with a convincing 24-12 win to secure their first national tournament win as a program and advance to the Second Round.
"Great win for the program to get our first NCAA Tournament win!" said Head Coach Albert Mitchell. "We played fast and played together for 60 minutes."
Following a quick pair of goals from the visitors, AU went on to score seven unanswered to take a five-goal lead and round out Q1. Barton picked up the first goal of the second quarter, but the Trojans responded with three more. Anderson then kept a minimum six-goal lead for the remainder of the contest.
AU's offensive efforts were led by Radyn Badraun (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Cole Sparks (West Islip, N.Y.), who combined for a massive 19 points. Badraun tallied five goals and five assists, while Sparks totaled four goals and five assists.
The 24 goals scored by the Black and Gold marks the 4th-highest goal tally of the season. A total 14 Trojans contributed points on the afternoon, with Jacob Kirchhofer (McKinney, Texas) boasting a career-high four goals. Matthew Rodgers (Carmel, Ind.) and Ryan Butch (Alpharetta, Ga.) each tallied a brace and an assist in the game, while Cooper Laughlin (Wooster, Ohio), Ryan Bitterman (Alpharetta, Ga.), Aiden Dixon (Forest Hill, Md.), Nash Perry (Buford, Ga.), Landon Foshee (Huntersville, N.C.), Brayden Bushnoe (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and James Watson (Cumming, Ga.) all recorded one goal each.
The Trojans outshot the Bulldogs 52 to 45 with 30 shots coming on frame compared to Barton's 21. Barton's goalie recorded six saves, while Anderson's three goalies combined for nine—Adin Laughlin (Wooster, Ohio) and Bobby Devenport IV (Grayslake, Ill.) both with four, and PJ Flynn (Huntersville, N.C.) with one.
Anderson will now travel to the South Region's 2-seed, Wingate, on Sunday (May 10) for the Second Round game. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 1 PM.
