BRISTOL, Tenn. – King University Rocket League was back in action this evening in the PlayVS league. They improved their season record to 6-0 before falling to #1 Northwood University in a close series where an overtime match and a 3-2 loss made all the difference.
MATCH 1 (BEST OF 5) – MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY - GOLD
- Matthew Bilbruck grabs the first goal of this round with a nice backboard assist from Luke Buffington
- Buffington snags the next goal from a solo drive to the backboard to increase the Tornado lead 2-0
- Rory Johnsen naturally followed suit with a goal of this own, set up from an insane cross to himself from the far corner
- King University takes the first match by score 3-0
- MTU did a great job in the second match by changing up their game play and slowing the pace down. They managed the first goal of the match with less than two minutes remaining
- MTU scored another goal with just over one minute remaining, putting the Tornado in a tight spot down 0-2
- King made their own momentum change after the second goal and as a result Buffington was able to find a wide open net for a slam dunk. This tightened the score to 1-2 in favor of MTU
- Johnsen followed up in less than ten seconds with another Tornado goal and to tie the score
- In overtime King wasted no time as Buffington goes up for another backboard slam and ends the second match in favor of KU 3-2
- MTU scores first in the third round but the Johnsen retaliates very quickly to knot the score 1-1
- Johnsen strikes again to take the lead 2-1 from a very nice Buffington backboard pass
- MTU however was not phased as they cash in two goals relatively quickly to retake the lead 2-3
- Bilbruck hits a crucial bump to set up the Buffington goal to tie the match 3-3
- Johnsen sets a textbook assist up for another Buffington goal and the Tornado lead
- MTU responded yet again with another goal to tie the match up for a third time
- Buffington has another response of his own to take the lead 5-4 and pick up the hat trick
- King would go on to win the match 5-4 and take the overall series
- Final Score: King 3, MTU 0
MATCH 2 (BEST OF 5) - UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL - BLUE
- Buffington strikes early with an incredible score from a Johnsen assist
- Bilbruck sets up an incredible assist for Buffington who sets himself up for an equally incredible backboard shot
- Johnsen decides he wants a part of the action and beats ALL of the UML defenders with some fancy ball control for another goal and 3-0 lead
- King University would take the first round 3-0
- UML grabbed the first and second goal of the second round to take the lead 2-0 with three minutes remaining
- Buffington wastes no time as he beats two UML defenders to tighten the score 1-2
- UML managed to score again though and takes the second round
- Buffington finds the goal first in the third round with an aerial dribble to score off the backboard
- Bilbruck finds the goal next from an awesome Johnsen assist
- Johnsen comes up with the next goal from a Buffington assist to increase the Tornado lead 3-0
- Bilbruck comes alive in this round. He continued the pressure with a bomb from the three point line
- Bilbruck shows off his insane ball control as he sets Johnsen up for ANOTHER Tornado goal
- Bilbruck managed to pick up another goal for the Tornado as they steamroll the third round with a 6-0 win
- In the fourth round UML did a nice job slowing the pace, but another great assist from Bilbruck sets up Buffington for another easy goal
- UML did respond with a goal of their own to tie the score 1-1
- Johnsen was able to sneak in the back door of the UML defense for a textbook score to regain the lead
- With 13 seconds left UML gets another score to tie the match but Buffington responds in six seconds with another backboard goal to take the lead
- King takes the fourth round 3-2
- Final Score: King 3, UML 0
MATCH 3 (BEST OF 5) – #1 NORTHWOOD UNIVERSITY
- The Tornado was ready to play the first round of this series as Johnsen comes up with the first score
- Northwood responded quickly to knot the score 1-1
- Johnsen finds the goal again to take the lead 2-1
- Buffington takes the next goal from an awesome assist from Bilbruck
- King takes the first round 4-1
- The second round NU opens with two goals
- The Tornado does a great job taking advantage of NU's aggressive play to set up an open net and tighten the score 1-2
- Bilbruck goes airborne from midfield and through a defender for the second goal to tie the score 2-2
- No other goals were scored in regulation and this match goes into overtime
- The overtime play was fast, aggressive and impressive on both sides
- Both teams were looking for any opportunity but NU came up with the score in OT to take the second round
- The next round NU began to mount some momentum as they score three to King's zero and take the series lead 1-2
- NU scores the first three goals in the fourth round to take the 0-3 lead
- Buffington finds an opportunity between two NU defenders to get King on the board
- NU's aggression gets the best of them as Bilbruck gets a wide open net from a Buffington assist to bring the score to 2-3
- The Tornado continued to push the pace and look for the tie but Northwood was able to stop them short to take the final round
- Final Score: 1, Northwood 3
