BUFFALOES USE LATE RUN TO EDGE ARMORY

(Buffalo, NY)… The Buffaloes and the Armory faced off Monday in a possible Mearns Cup Playoff preview. The Buffaloes used a five-goal fourth-quarter run to top the Armory, 13-9.

The Buffaloes and the Armory played once earlier in the summer. It was a one-goal game. Through the first three quarters it was very similar the second time around.  The Buffaloes found their offense from their defensive end, led by goalie Jarrod Brant’s four-assist night. Jonathan Dubisz also tallied four points (2+2). They had five other multipoint scorers as well: Kelvin Jonathan (2+1), Matt Jones (1+1), Brian Wiles (2+0), Connor Boss (1+1), and Dylan Snow (1+1). Brant also notched 43 saves in the win.

“Jojo’s awesome… he (Brant) just gives us consistency,” Buffaloes head coach Ethan O’Connor said. “Every time he steps in this year, he’s an absolute rock. When we’re not playing our best system defensively, he’s been able to make key saves every game, regardless of the opponent. You go back and look at the film, he’s been able to throw darts all year, and I think, finally, our transition game put some in the back of the net for him. Looks good on the spreadsheet last night but he’s been doing that all year for us.”

There was no surprise who led the Armory. Clifford Gaston (3+2) notched his third hat trick in five games. His offensive support came from the righthanded side; Alec Constable (2+0) and Pavel Srch (0+2) each tallied two points, while Braydan Stearns (2+0) led the lefties. 

The Armory showed two different looks in the crease as they split time between two netminders. Josef Slavik got the start and the Czech Republic native made 16 saves and notched two assists in the opening half. Armory veteran Will Dempsey played the second half and notched 17 saves.

When the Buffaloes and the Armory met in late June, it all came down to the final frame. In the closing five minutes, the Buffaloes took the lead on the power play and doubled it in the final two minutes. The Armory got one back from Constable, but the Buffalo defense held out for the win. As the second matchup started, it seemed like the product would be similar to the last game they played. They are clearly two of the closest teams in the UCBLL. 

“We can’t keep scoring less than ten goals in a game. That’s how we’ve lost both games. It’s kind of a race to 10 and whoever gets to 10 first usually wins a game,” Gaston said. “Our goalies, they’ve been great. Our defense has been great. I think a lot of it can fall back on our offense, where we need to stay consistent and keep burying the ball.”

The Buffaloes opened the scoring with Wiles and controlled possession from the jump, but the Armory adapted early. Thanks to a clean save by Slavik a few possessions later, he was able to find Gaston on an outlet feed for the Armory to get on the board. The transition didn’t stop there as the next defensive possession, Jett Richardson, broke free, and Srch found him for the two-man breakaway goal. 

That was the only time either team scored back-to-back in the first three quarters. It was a defensive battle and almost every goal in the second seemed to come from transition. After an impressive dive across the crease and near post finish for Constable for the Armory, the next three goals came from coast-to-coast plays.

Casey LaForce caught a perfect pass from Brant for a one-on-one and buried it low. Then it was Slavik making the impressive outlet to Gaston at midfield. He had Matt Belles wide open on the crease for the Armory answer. The Buffaloes tied the contest after scooping up a groundball on their own crease and going the length of the floor. Gaston, however, had the last laugh of the half, burying one from the top of the key to end a shorthanded transition chance. 

The third quarter was just like the second, with each team going shot for shot. But as a storm started to roll in during the third, so did the penalties. 

Constable and Kyle Gonsoriek got into it by the penalty box, and it ended with a five-minute boarding call for Constable and a two-minute rough for Gonsoriek. Less than a minute later, the Buffaloes' Tyler Lehan went to the box for a hold, and the Armory capitalized on the crease in a 4-on-3 set. 

Snow scored for the Buffaloes next once they moved to the man advantage, but Gaston had an answer to open the fourth, flicking his wrists on the crease for the Armory lead. 

Just after Gaston’s goal, the wind and rain reached their peak. Mist blew onto the turf, and the rain came in sideways. Dubisz was still able to receive the ball on the crease off the faceoff, but he slipped due to the conditions. He got up and buried his shot five-hole for the Buffaloes' lead, but the game was paused just after the goal. 

“(Assistant coach Zack) Belter and I just kind of kept giving them the advice, stay the course, stay the course, stay the course,” O’Connor said. “That five goal-run at the end was just it finally clicking and those shots we were getting earlier in the game finally falling.”

The teams waited out a portion of the storm and when they came back the Armory couldn’t seem to put their shots on net. When they did, Brant was there to make the save and start the transition. He notched two assists in the Buffaloes final four goals, both outlets to the goal scorers. 

“We had that 10-minute little break, and I think they handled it and stayed more focused than us, and obviously, it showed,” Gaston said. 

In the last seven minutes, the Buffaloes scored four more goals to bring the final score to 13-9. Their five goals were the longest run of the game. There’s a chance the teams will meet again in the opening round of the playoffs next week; with current seedings, that’s how it would shake out. Gaston knows the Armory can still find confidence in their closer losses.

“I think we’re way better than those scores have shown. Obviously we’re so lucky with our record that we’re still going be able to make playoffs and still have a chance to compete for the Mearns Cup,” Gaston said. “We’ve lost those past couple of games just in the fourth quarter, and I think if we get a bounce or two, we come out with a win in those games. There’s a ton of confidence around the team. We know what we have to do. We know we just have to execute in the fourth quarter.”

With the win, the Buffaloes move to 5-1 and will prepare for the top-ranked Hawkeyes on Thursday. The Armory drops to 1-5 as it continues to find itself on the losing end of close games. It will take on the Rapids to close out their regular season.