June 7, 2025
After taking down the Los Angeles Aviators by one goal in the closing seconds on Friday night, the undefeated Austin Sol (5-0) traveled south to San Diego (5-2) for a potential playoff preview. The Growlers and Sol had faced each other three times previously, with San Diego winning both matchups in 2021 and Austin taking the most recent game in 2023.
Austin received the opening pull and had to work hard after a turnover, but eventually held serve, while San Diego scored efficiently on their possession. The first break of the game occurred when Peter Lenz intercepted a deep attempt, then Daniel Brunker sent a long huck to Khalif El-Salaam who skied his defender for the goal. On the next point, Ben Levinsky earned a layout block that led to a Will Turner to Tynan Sander break score, and the Growlers put in yet another break after a Matt Miller block, and El-Salaam fed Michael Tran, 4-1. The Sol settled down after a timeout and held on offense, but San Diego followed suit. On the next point, Max Hume intercepted Austin's long pass, and after a timeout, Kyle Rubin connected with Miller for their fourth break of the quarter. The teams traded and Austin was unable to score on their final drive before the buzzer, and San Diego maintained their 7-3 lead.
The Growlers began the second quarter with the disc and despite their first offensive turnover, were still able to hold with a leaping grab from Marcel Osborne and dish to Oliver Artus. The Sol held and then doubled down with a red zone interception and their first break of the game to cut the lead to 8-5. The teams traded, and once again, Austin took advantage of another break opportunity to get within two scores. Travis Dunn came up huge with a big sky and dish to Artus for the score, then Austin held, and Artus promptly scored another goal for the 11-8 lead. The Sol started to heat up with a hold and then scored two momentum shifting breaks after a couple of Growlers throws went just out of reach, and the score was tied 11-11 at halftime.
The back and forth nature of the game continued in the third quarter with both teams holding, then the Growlers capitalized on a short field break when El-Salaam threw a dart to Lenz, 13-12. Each team traded offensive holds, then KJ Koo intercepted a deep attempt, and El-Salaam ripped a perfect backhand to Sander for a big break, 15-13. More trading, then San Diego had another break opportunity after an Austin throwaway and timeout, but an errant deep throw led to a Sol hold. The teams scored one more goal each, with the Growlers unable to convert at the buzzer, but led 17-16.
Despite a turnover, San Diego scored on offense to start the fourth quarter when Rubin carved a forehand for Miller who dove for the disc on his second attempt, 18-16. Austin held, then tied the game with a break score, but the Growlers were patient and responded with a Brunker goal. The Sol struck back with downfield 50/50 hammer throws that receivers kept catching in traffic, and they answered with a hold and break to take the lead, 20-19. San Diego battled back with a Koo to Brunker score, but Austin threw another hammer goal then broke again after a Growlers miscue for the 22-20 lead with 3:19 remaining. On the second throw of their next possession, the Growlers suffered an unfortunate drop, and the Sol earned another quick break dagger. San Diego scored a goal late but Austin ran out the clock to preserve their undefeated season with a 23-21 win.
The Growlers were led by Kyle Rubin (3 assists, 1 goal) and Daniel Brunker (3 assists, 1 goal, 1 block) with +4 performances, and Oliver Artus (3 goals, 1 block) and Travis Dunn (4 assists, 1 block) contributed +3 games. Next up, San Diego will take a road trip to Las Vegas on June 14 to face the expansion Bighorns for the first time.
