Photo Credit: Matthew Brooks
After a thrilling comeback victory vs the Colorado Apex the week before, the San Diego Growlers traveled to Texas to face the undefeated Austin Sol on Friday, June 19. The Growlers were hungry for revenge after a 1 goal overtime loss to the Sol at home on June 5, and could all but clinch a playoff spot with a win.
Austin started the game hot with a hold and two break scores right out of the gate to take initial control. San Diego finally got on the board with a Daniel Brunker huck to Tynan Sander to stop the bleeding, 3-1. The Sol held and then earned another break, and after a couple of turnovers by both teams, the Growlers held on with a Brandon Van Deusen assist to Oliver Artus. Austin held, then Jonathan Lyle connected with KJ Koo for the goal. On the next point, Max Combs soared through the air for a layout block in Austin’s endzone, and Max Gibson picked up and dished back to Combs for the bookend break. San Diego had another break chance when Brandon Severson earned a block, but San Diego was unable to score before the buzzer, 6-4.
After an uncharacteristic San Diego drop to start the second quarter, Austin eventually broke for the goal. The Growlers held with a Combs to Stefan Samu score. After a Sol throwaway, Combs located Severson for the quick break, 7-6. The teams traded several goals each, but once again, the Growlers were unable to convert before time expired and faced an 11-9 deficit.
In the third quarter, the Sol and Growlers traded holds, then Austin scored and piled on two more breaks to take a commanding lead, 15-10. San Diego scored a much needed goal from Travis Dunn to Matt Miller, but Austin answered right back. San Diego held, then broke when Miller uncorked a hammer to Combs, 16-13. With 18 seconds remaining, the Sol worked the disc upfield and successfully completed a last second buzzer beater for the 17-13 lead.
San Diego began the fourth quarter strong with a Brunker forehand to Artus for the goal. Both teams held, then after a Combs block, Gibson found Peter Lenz for the break. Ben Levinsky laid out for a block, and Sander threw a hammer to Jonah Rominski for a second break. After a short field turnover from the Sol, the Growlers tied the game with a Gibson assist to Rominski. Austin held, then Van Deusen fed Combs to tie the game at 19s. The Sol appeared to take the lead, but an offensive foul was called causing a turnover, and the Growlers advanced the disc the full length of the field. On the goal line, a throwaway gave the disc back to the Sol, but a Combs block gave the Growlers one last chance to win, which was ultimately intercepted as the teams headed to overtime!
Austin received the disc, but Gibson was patrolling the deep space and intercepted two of their long attempts which led to a timeout. With the Growlers offense on the field, they were able to advance it to the goal line where Dunn linked up with Van Deusen to take their first lead of the game, 20-19. The Sol held on a highlight reel grab in the back of the end zone, and the Growlers received the disc with 1:55 remaining. After gradually working the disc up the field very patiently, the clock elapsed under 10 seconds, and a cross-field throw could not be reeled in by the receiver, so double overtime beckoned.
The Growlers received the disc in sudden death but couldn’t find a great rhythm, which eventually led to a throwaway to avoid a stall. The Sol called timeout, and with a short field, they only required a couple of throws to find the endzone and barely escaped with another nail biting win, 21-20.
The Growlers were led by Max Combs (2 assists, 4 goals, 3 blocks) with a phenomenal +9 performance, and Oliver Artus (1 assist, 3 goals) with a clutch +4 effort. The team needed to recover from this self-inflicted heartbreaker quickly, as they headed to Houston the next day in a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive.
