ANDERSON, S.C. – The No. 9 Anderson University men's lacrosse team picked up their 10th win of the season for the first time in program history over conference opponent Catawba on Saturday (March 25).
Last season, the Trojans suffered a tough 17-13 loss to Catawba on the road, which ended up keeping Anderson out of the SAC tournament. However, Anderson entered this matchup with momentum in their favor, having won four consecutive matches.
The first quarter was a battle between the midfielders with Anderson's Garrett Hawkins drawing first blood offensively, his first of two unassisted goals this quarter. Catawba's Bakari Neely countered the strikes by Hawkins with two of his own. SAC Offensive Player of the Week Radyn Badraun found the back of the net to make it a 3-2 game, but the Indians were not done just yet as they scored a goal in the final few minutes of the period to tie the score at three.
Goals were traded back and forth throughout the next quarter as Garrett Simi found the netting on the cage to start the tradeoff. Goals from Zopfi and Badraun gave Anderson their first lead of the quarter. Once again, Bakari Neely took one unassisted to the goal, but Matthew Rodgers responded with one of his own to put the score at 6-5 in favor of the Trojans going into halftime.
Anderson kept the Indians scoreless in the third quarter, while putting up three scores of their own. Beau Henson found the back of the net, with the assist coming the way of Logan Gaddis (his 30th of the season). Radyn Badraun was able to capitalize off a Catawba foul, leaving Anderson in a man-up situation, as the Trojans began pulling away 8-5. Garrett Hawkins struck at the buzzer for his third and final goal of the night as the conference matchup entered the fourth and final stretch.
Catawba came out firing on all cylinders, scoring back-to-back goals to bring the team within two (9-7). Rodgers and Hawkins got the wheels turning with the former chalking up another off the latter's feed. The d-pole Peyton Jefferson went coast-to-coast with a quick strike after a save from Hunter Klosterman, Jefferson's sixth goal of the season. Matthew Rodgers continued his scoring streak, adding another to the stat sheet, finishing up the Trojan's offensive prowess. A final goal from the Indians does damage control as Anderson seals the deal at home with a final score of 12-8.
"Good win to be able to beat a tough Catawba team at home and avenge last year's loss," stated coach Albert Mitchell. "Great to see us step up in the second and adjust to the zone. We are back to work Monday to get ready for what is going to be another physical SAC battle at Newberry."
The Trojans will be back in action on Wednesday (March 29) as they travel to Newberry to face the Wolves in more South Atlantic Conference action. Video and live stats will be available at autrojans.com.
In the Box
Matthew Rodgers had three goals with one assist.
Radyn Badraun had three goals with one assist.
Garrett Hawkins had three goals with two assists.
Beau Henson had one goal and two assists.
Ryley Zopfi and Peyton Jefferson had one goal apiece.
Logan Gaddis and Max Calabrese added one assist.
Breton Crewe and Ethan Pratt combined for a total 10-21 from the faceoff.
Hunter Klosterman had 15 saves with eight goals allowed in goal for the Trojans.
*Written by Colin Calvert
