After a 4 hour flight delay and additional travel struggles, the San Diego Growlers finally arrived in Golden, CO to face the Summit on June 21.
Colorado started the game with a break, but San Diego held on offense and broke back with a Tynan Sander hand block and bookend goal. The teams traded scores, then the Summit notched another break to take the lead 4-3. The Growlers found a better offensive flow with a couple more scores, then tied it up at the buzzer with a Matt Miller hammer to Oliver Artus, 6-6.
San Diego capitalized on a Colorado drop when Bryce Lozinski dished to Miller after a timeout for the break score. The Summit battled back with a hold and two breaks of their own, 9-7. The Growlers got back on track with a great skying grab from Max Gibson for the hold, then the teams traded scores, with Kyle Rubin making a great leaping catch as well. With 7 seconds left in the quarter, San Diego committed a turnover which led to a Colorado break and a 13-10 lead.
The Growlers and Summit traded goals to begin the third quarter, then Rubin threw deep to Tom Konogeris who rose up and caught the disc between two defenders. San Diego cashed in on a Colorado turnover with a break from Michael Tran to Garrett Hable, 14-13. The teams traded several scores before the Summit earned another break, 19-16. The two offenses were tough to stop and traded goals to end the quarter with Colorado ahead 21-18.
The Summit held on offense and the Growlers matched scores when Miller sent a 60 yard huck to Travis Dunn. San Diego took advantage of a Colorado turnover when Marshall Crawford assisted to Casey Shugarman for the break. After another Summit miscue, the Growlers called timeout, which led to a Dunn to Peter Lenz break score, 22-21 with 7:24 remaining. The next point was pivotal, as San Diego had multiple chances to break after a timeout, but a red zone turnover and Colorado timeout and goal gave them a 23-21 lead with 3:45 left on the clock. The Summit picked up another quick break to put the game out of reach, despite the Growlers best efforts, 26-22.
The Growlers were led by Casey Wu (3 assists, 3 goals) with a +6 performance, and Matt Miller (4 assists, 3 goals, 1 block) and Oliver Artus (5 goals) contributed big +4 games as well.
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On July 22, the Growlers traveled to Oakland, CA to face the Spiders for another game that had massive playoff implications in the West Division.
The Spiders started the scoring with a hold and the Growlers countered, but Oakland held on offense and broke on defense for the early 3-1 lead. Each team traded goals by moving the disc quickly, with Miller distributing assists. Oakland took control with 3 consecutive breaks before San Diego salvaged a score near the end of the quarter, 8-4.
The Growlers gave up a break initially, but then held on offense and began to get back in the game with tighter defense. Michael Tran sent a deep pass to Caden Sigerud who dished to Taylor Gilman, then Max Gibson earned a run through block and assisted to Ethan Li, then Casey Shugarman got horizontal for a layout block and Marshall Crawford fed Shugarman the bookend goal for 3 breaks in a row, 9-8. The Spiders stopped the bleeding as the teams traded, and the Growlers had a chance to score at the buzzer but the disc went right off their fingertips, 12-10.
San Diego had a great break chance opportunity to start the third quarter, but Oakland prevailed with a hold. The teams traded but Growlers' throwaways translated into two Spiders’ breaks, 16-11. The teams traded and a great Miller to Gibson deep connection made the score 17-13. After a block by Stefan Samu and a timeout, the Growlers had yet another chance to score before the buzzer sounded, but the pass was ultimately defended.
After a couple turnovers, the Growlers held with a massive full field backhand from Dunn to Crawford. The teams traded 3 scores each, but a lot of time came off the clock with each possession. After San Diego caused a turnover and called timeout, Dunn found Rubin for the break to get the score to 20-18 with 1:56 remaining. The Spiders put the nail in the coffin on the next point with a hold under one minute left and secured the win 22-19.
The Growlers were led by Max Gibson (2 assists, 2 goals, 1 block) and Matt Miller (2 assists, 3 goals, 1 block) with +4 performances.
Next on tap, the Growlers will seek revenge when they host the Oakland Spiders on Sat, Jun 29 at Mission Bay HS.
