After dealing with a few absences/injuries and losing to the undefeated Oakland Spiders the week before, the Growlers traveled to Las Vegas to take on the winless Bighorns.

On a hot and windy night, Las Vegas received the opening pull, but quickly struggled to retain possession due to the conditions and San Diego’s defensive pressure. The Growlers notched four consecutive breaks with goals from Reggie Sung, Isaac Hsu, Jeff Silverman, and Khalif El-Salaam. The Bighorns got on the board with an offensive hold, but Brandon Van Deusen countered with a full field backhand assist to El-Salaam. The teams traded, then the Growlers broke twice more with goals from Silverman and Peter Lenz. The Bighorns kept it interesting with a buzzer beater goal, but still trailed 8-3.

San Diego committed several unforced turnovers and Las Vegas made them pay with two breaks in a row, 8-5. After another sloppy point, Travis Dunn righted the ship with an assist to El-Salaam. The two teams found their offensive rhythms and traded four consecutive downwind scores. The Growlers prevented the Bighorns from scoring on their last possession and took a 13-9 lead into halftime.

The Bighorns started the third quarter with a score and the Growlers struck back with a Dunn to Steven Milardovich goal. The teams traded three holds apiece, then blocks from Silverman and Ben Levinksy led to a timeout and a Growlers break from Colin Sunde to Lenz, 18-13. San Diego finished the quarter strong with two more break scores from Brandon Severson and Hsu to take a commanding 20-13 lead.

The Growlers kept riding their momentum wave with a hold and a break score from Bryce Lozinski to Will Turner to begin the fourth quarter. Both teams traded a few holds before San Diego recorded another Lozinski to Turner break. After a few more scores, the Growlers put the finishing touches on a 26-17 win.

The Growlers were led by Khalif El-Salaam (4 assists, 6 goals, 1 block) with an incredible +10 performance and Brandon Van Deusen (3 assists, 2 goals, 2 blocks) excelled with a +7 game. Travis Dunn (4 assists, 1 goal) and Will Turner (3 assists, 2 goals) each contributed great +4 nights as well.

Next up, San Diego will face a road test against their NorCal rival, the Oakland Spiders, on Saturday, May 30 in the UFA Game of the Week!