Los Angeles gets to try and play spoiler this weekend..

The Aviators are mathematically out of the UFA playoffs. The San Diego Growlers, on the other hand, currently hold the third and final playoff spot in the South Division and will make the playoffs if they win their last three games, holding the tiebreaker over the Carolina Flyers.

The two match up this weekend for the fourth season and San Diego has won the first three matchups, but all three of those were across the first four games of the season for Los Angeles, ranging from May 3 to May 16. San Diego’s last win over the Aviators, though, started off a strong stretch for the Aviators.

After the five-point win for the Growlers, LA had three straight games that were decided by one score, featuring its first two wins of the year and a tough loss to the division-leading Austin Sol. The run of close games was broken up by a five-goal loss to Seattle, but the Aviators have shown a recent trend of keeping it close against good opponents.

San Diego, despite holding the playoff spot, has hit a slight rough patch and is 2-3 in its last five with the lone wins coming against teams under .500. 

Along with the recent trends, the Aviators also have very little to lose. With LA unable to make the playoffs, it can lengthen the odds for the Growlers to earn a postseason bid. 

At 6-4, San Diego might need to win both of its final two games to make it in over the 5-4 Flyers. The Growlers play the Oakland Spiders to close the season, a team they just lost to, making the matchup with Los Angeles that much more important.

The Flyers have won five straight games, beating all of their three remaining opponents during that stretch to make the final stretch of the season an exciting race to the finish.

All of that is to say the Growlers have a lot more pressure on them to win this game than the Aviators. This will seemingly allow Los Angeles to play much more freely as many individual players are putting up stellar performances or growing into their roles on the squad.

The offensive trio of Jonathan Lyle, James Franklin and Sean McDougall put up stellar performances in their most recent weekend trip, combining for a whopping 37 scores of LA’s 70 between the two matches.

While the Aviators can consistently rely on their offensive stars to produce, their defense is the key to success. LA has had three games with a 43% D-line conversion rate or higher, which happen to account for all of the Aviators’ one-point games.

The offense often comes onto the field after a timeout to convert the break chances, but the defense needs to put the team in those situations. The O-line could help out the defense by converting holds at a higher rate, but the proven method of success to winning has been the defense for Los Angeles.

Despite often winning games with a high defensive conversion rate too, the Growlers rely much more on their offense to come out victorious. San Diego is 5-0 with a hold percentage of 72% or higher and only a 1-4 mark with a rate lower than that.

Similar to LA, the Growlers have potent offensive threats at their disposal. Former Aviator Marcel Osborne leads the team with a career-high 29 goals and longtime Growler Travis Dunn tops the list with his 40 assists. The two were particularly on point against Los Angeles in the second matchup, notching a combined 17 scores during the May 4 matchup.

Head coach Jacob Baumer and assistant coach Linda Harmon will need to lean on their top defenders in Mitchell Steiner and Andrew Padula along with rookies Max Combs and Owen Shaff

Los Angeles produces the second-least blocks in the UFA, but those four are among the team leaders with McDougall. The Aviators have shown an ability to convert off of turns as of late, but those four will have a major responsibility of stopping Dunn and Osborne to create those chances.

Without a playoff spot on the line, LA has the chance to diminish its rival’s shot at the postseason. The Aviators will look to do just that this Saturday at Great Park Championship Stadium. Fans can buy tickets for the 6 p.m. start at https://laaviators.com/event/2025-game-9/.