Photo Credit: Greg Siller
After a 28-18 win over the Vegas Bighorns two weeks before, the San Diego Growlers hosted the Bighorns again on July 18 at Clairemont HS. San Diego had already clinched the #3 playoff seed in the South Division, so this game served as a tune-up for their postseason matchup vs the Carolina Flyers.
The Growlers defense set the tone immediately when Steven Milardovich hand blocked the second throw of the game and eventually scored the bookend break. After several more Bighorns turnovers and blocks from Jonah Rominski and Michael Tran, San Diego proceeded to rattle off five additional breaks with goals from Jonathan Lyle, KJ Koo, Marcel Osborne, Max Gibson, and Jonathan McGurrin. Vegas temporarily stopped the bleeding with a hold, but the Growlers answered back with a Matt Miller deep throw to Khalif El-Salaam, 7-1. San Diego’s defense continued to apply pressure which resulted in blocks from Gibson, McGurrin, and Reggie Sung and five more breaks in a row. The teams traded, and the Growlers capitalized when Lyle intercepted a throw with 2 seconds left and dished to Koo for the buzzer-beater break, 14-2.
San Diego started the second quarter on offense and committed their first turnover of the game, but Brandon Van Deusen’s block in the endzone led to a Daniel Brunker goal. The teams traded holds, then the Growlers executed two more break scores on perfect deep passes from Tran to Osborne and Rominski to Gibson, 18-3. Both teams exchanged several holds until El-Salaam released a backhand with one second left on the clock, and Travis Dunn tipped the disc forward into the hands of Lyle for their second buzzer-beater of the game, 22-7.
Coming out of halftime, the Growlers struggled to match their first half intensity and efficiency, but still scored three consecutive breaks with goals from Koo, El-Salaam, and Milardovich. These long defensive points featured multiple turnovers and drained the majority of the clock, so the Bighorns were only able to manage 1 score and trailed 25-8.
The Growlers held to start the fourth quarter, then after a McGurrin block, Shun Iwata fed Sung for the break. On the next possession, Osborne earned a block, then recorded the bookend break score after a Lyle assist, 28-8. Vegas held on offense and then converted their one and only break all game against San Diego. WIth the outcome never in doubt, Max Gibson added two more blocks which produced goals from Lyle and Ben Levinsky. As time wound down, Oliver Artus threw a scoober to Osborne as the clock expired and the Growlers emerged victorious 34-12.
The Growlers set team records with 34 total goals and 22 break scores, and were led by Marcel Osborne (2 assists, 5 goals, 1 block) and Jonathan Lyle (3 assists, 5 goals, 1 block) with phenomenal +8 performances. Khalif El-Salaam (2 assists, 4 goals, 1 block), Max Gibson (3 assists, 2 goals, 3 blocks), and KJ Koo (1 assist, 4 goals, 2 blocks) were superb with +7 efforts as well. Next up, San Diego will travel cross-country to face the Carolina Flyers on Friday, July 24 at 4:30 pm PT in the first round of the South Division Playoffs!
