Photo Credit: Rhonda Taormina
After a 23-20 win on the road in Houston one week before, the San Diego Growlers hosted the Havoc on June 27 at Torrey Pines HS. With an Atlanta loss the previous night, San Diego knew they needed just three more wins to clinch a playoff berth in the South Division.
The Havoc started quickly with a hold on offense and a break on defense. The Growlers got on the board with a great concentration bobble catch from Jonathan Lyle who dished to Jonah Rominski for the goal. The teams traded holds, then Rominski earned a block and Max Gibson zipped an assist to Steven Milaradovich for the break, 3-3. After a couple of Houston turnovers on the next possession, San Diego called timeout which led to Khalif El-Salaam throwing his 200th career assist to Marcel Osborne, who made a great leaping grab in traffic. The Havoc held and then intercepted the Growlers last second attempt to end the quarter at 4-4.
San Diego began the second quarter with a Kyle Rubin forehand to El-Salaam for the skying goal, but Houston answered right back with an excellent catch over two defenders. After a Growlers throwaway, the Havoc called a timeout and promptly scored a break to take the lead 6-5. The teams traded, and Houston executed another break after an uncharacteristic San Diego drop, 8-6. Needing a hold, Brandon Van Deusen launched a backhand to a diving Osborne who fed Rubin for the goal. After a Havoc throwaway, Shun Iwata threw an upline score to Gibson. The momentum was starting to build, and after a Houston turnover, San Diego called timeout and Daniel Brunker connected with Lyle for the break. On the next two possessions, Max Combs tallied an impressive block and caught the bookend break score, and the Growlers doubled down with another break from Peter Lenz to Lyle for the 11-8 lead. The Havoc held, then a bizzare point ensued with multiple throwaways, and what should have been a San Diego buzzer-beater goal was taken away by an errant whistle.
Coming out of halftime, Combs registered another block which led to a Gibson to Stefan Samu break. With some intense defensive pressure applied by Ben Levinsky and Iwata, the Growlers forced a stall, and Matt Miller fed Lenz for another break, 13-9. The teams traded holds, then the Growlers poured it on with 3 consecutive break scores from Isaac Hsu, Rominski, and Bryce Lozinski, 17-10. The Havoc fought back with a hold and a break before San Diego scored the last goal of the quarter to take a comfortable 18-12 lead.
The Growlers offense was in full flow state when El-Salaam sent a perfect forehand to Osborne for the easy goal, then they doubled down with a break score from Gibson to Combs, 20-12. The teams traded, then San Diego notched another break, and repeated the same scoring pattern again. As the clock wound down, San Diego was in total control and a dominant second half propelled them to a convincing 25-15 victory!
The Growlers were led by Max Combs (3 assists, 3 goals, 3 blocks) with a phenomenal +9 performance, and Khalif El-Salaam (4 assists, 4 goals, 1 block) with a superb +6 effort.
Next up, San Diego will host the Vegas Bighorns on Saturday, July 4 at Torrey Pines HS at 4 pm.
