SALISBURY, N.C. — The 10th-ranked, fourth-seeded Catawba Indians were bounced from the South Atlantic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship by No. 5 seed Anderson, conceding a narrow 12-9 quarterfinal result to the eighth-ranked Trojans at Shuford Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
TEAM STATS
- Catawba (11-4) fired 37 shots with 19 on goal while Anderson (13-3) dealt 46 attempts of which 24 were on net, giving the squads similar accuracy rates
- The contest featured 40 combined turnovers, largely due to the two offenses operating with greater pace and risk, as Catawba slightly outnumbered the Trojans 22-18
- The Trojans were marginally better in terms of clearing with an 18-for-21 (.857) ledger compared to the Catawba Indians' 19-for-23 (.826)
- Anderson turned in a steady 8-8-8-7 ground ball count across each quarter to lead the category 31-23
- Cael Petroff went 8-for-24 on faceoffs as Mason Adams won his lone draw; Aiden Dixon had 12 victories for AU while AJ Rush and Brayden Bushnoe both tallied perfect 2-for-2 logs
- Ben LoPiccolo chalked up a .500 performance with 12 saves on 24 shots faced, against Bobby Devenport IV's stopped 10 of Catawba's 19 on-target tries (.526)
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Garrett Simi paced the Catawba Indians in scoring with his third career hat trick, netting three goals – including his first career man-advantage strike – with one assist
- Peyton Turner also amassed four points using a pair of goals and two helpers; the Cornelius, N.C., native clinched the program's third-most assists in a season (29)
- Tanner Stout and Micah Stechmiller each chipped in one goal, one assist and two ground balls
- Brothers Boston Rehrer and Statton Rehrer rounded out the scoring column with one dart apiece
- Jack Mercer contributed an assist, giving him a point in seven of the last eight games
- Kier McKnight headed the defensive unit with two caused turnovers while sharing the top mark of three ground balls with Petroff, Jackson Byers and Dylan McQuarrie
- Freshmen Ty Hicklin and Peter Myers enjoyed solid days in the backfield with one takeaway and one ground ball apiece
UP NEXT
Catawba will wait another week to learn if it will receive an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The 18-team field will be revealed on Sunday, May 3, on NCAA.com.
