Photo by Alan Bloodgood
JULY 22, 2025
By Kyle Turnbaugh
Over the weekend, the DC Breeze (7-5) ended their regular season as they started it, with a loss to the Philadelphia Phoenix (6-6). This loss, however, is far less consequential than the week one defeat and is just a bad taste in the mouth for the Breeze, as they enter the playoffs. It is certainly a feel-good moment for the Phoenix to reach the .500 mark and sweep the Breeze on the season. DC went into this game resting a significant number of players, both on offense and defense, prioritizing the health and safety of some of the team's top players (many of whom have been nursing nagging injuries), as they prepare to face off against New York in the first round of the East Division playoffs.
It was a disjointed offensive performance for the Breeze, as they held only 52% of the time and were sloppy in the redzone, throwing away nine opportunities deep in Philadelphia’s territory. The offense was without Cole Jurek, Christian Boxley, Thomas Edmonds, and Gus Norrbom, and it showed, as the offense struggled to build much flow. In the absence of all those key players, Rowan McDonnell stepped up as the engine of the offense, and Aidan Downey had a great game as a receiving threat, catching four goals and accumulating nearly 300 yards receiving.
On the defensive side, the Breeze fielded a D-line that had hardly played together over the season. They were fairly effective in generating chances, but the lack of chemistry showed when they had the disc in their hands, as they only scored two breaks. The Breeze defense was without Alexandre Fall, Charlie McCutcheon, Ben Greenberg, Moussa Dia, Micah Wagner, and Frederick Farah, leading to some chances for players like Xavier Schafer and Zachary Burpee to get some more reps. It was also a chance for some players to return from absences, as Isaac Lee and Luke Rehfuss got warmed up for the playoffs after long stints on the sideline. Finally, Matt Thomas made his Breeze debut as he signed on to be the 20th man for the road trip.
The first quarter was tight, and it started out promising for the Breeze, as they scored one of their two breaks of the night to open the game. The first chance for the Breeze came as Rhys Bergeron jumped a tight-angle pass from Brandon Pastor that was bound for Sean Mott on the goal line, but Schafer threw the chance away with the first throwaway of his three-year UFA career. But, the Breeze would immediately get the chance back, as Miles Grovic, who leads the team in blocks with 11, got up over Michael Maroon to swat down a deep shot from Mott. Isaac Lee, Schafer, and Jasper Tom then led the D-line down the field from the handle set, and Kevin Healey found the endzone off an easy throw by Grovic after nearly four minutes. After a war of attrition to open the game, the Phoenix quickly struck with a big huck from Adam Grossberg for a goal. Quick holds then went both ways with Downey picking up his first goal of the night and Scott Heyman scoring for Philadelphia. Philadelphia evened things up with a break of their own, as Jeff Wodatch and Nate Little went back and forth over this point, with Wodatch blocking Little’s huck and Little responding with a block of his own on Wodatch’s deep pass looking for Coby Loveranes. This is where the Breeze’s offensive struggles began to show, as Philadelphia’s defense finally converted after DC gave them three chances to break. It was all holds for the rest of the opening period, with DC surrendering a late score that gave the Phoenix a one-goal lead going into the second quarter.
The second period was one to forget for the Breeze, as the Phoenix completely shut down the Breeze offense and dominated the quarter 8-2 after a close first quarter. The Phoenix started off with a break after Max Tran blocked a throw from Wodatch, who struggled on the day with four turnovers. One of the few positive moments of the frame came when the D-line was playing offense after successive failed holds from the O-line, as Grovic caught a deep pass from Isaac Lee then dished the disc off to Thomas to score in his UFA debut, wearing the number 13 jersey of Jurek. The Breeze tried a variety of offensive assortments over the course of the second frame but were broken five times in a row by Philadelphia’s defense and struggled to create any kind of rhythm.
DC went into the second half down seven goals, and at this point, it seemed like it was most prudent to prioritize living to fight another day and preparing for New York, rather than attempting to mount a massive comeback in Philadelphia. The third frame was also a hard watch for Breeze fans. While there were a couple better moments from DC, the Phoenix stretched their lead out to ten goals by the end of the quarter. Loveranes, usually an O-line player, did well to grab a couple blocks throughout the game, logging three total after not having any through his first five games. The Breeze secured their second and final break of the game in fun fashion, with a Lee to Lee connection from Isaac Lee to Marcus Lee after David Bloodgood laid out for a block to create a chance for the Breeze. With the Phoenix up by ten at the start of the final period, the fourth was mostly a formality, with the Breeze ready to move onto the playoffs and the Phoenix happy to end off their season with a win. The lone highlight of the fourth was a great layout grab by Wodatch, as the veteran cutter showed that he still has the speed and agility to make a great grab. Jacques Nissen, McDonnell and Downey had productive fourth quarters on offense, but it was far too late to make any difference in the game.
The loss is a disappointing end to the season, but the Breeze are 7-5 and hosting a home playoff game. Considering the tumultuous start to the season for DC, any fan would take this outcome. It's an exciting yet nervy time for the Breeze as they are 2-2 all time in the playoffs against the New York Empire, and with the last matchup between the two sides ending in a controversial double-overtime, tensions are likely to be higher than ever between the two greatest rivals in the UFA. As the regular season comes to a close, be on the lookout for more coverage, as the Breeze prepare for the playoffs and hope to defeat New York for the right to face Boston for an East Division title rematch and what would be the fourth matchup of the season between the two division rivals.
Next up is Breeze vs Empire in the playoffs on Saturday, July 26 at Carlini Field. First pull goes up at 7:00 PM ET. Tickets available at thedcbreeze.com and streaming live on watchUFA.tv.
