MAY 28, 2025
By Kyle Turnbaugh
After falling at home against the division-leading Boston Glory, the DC Breeze (2-2) will travel north to Canada for the second matchup of the season against the Toronto Rush (0-3) and their first matchup against the Montreal Royal (1-3).
In the last faceoff between DC and Toronto, the Breeze just managed to hold off the Rush at home, securing a one-goal victory in a game where the Breeze dominated possession and were efficient in the redzone, converting 17 of 20 chances. The Breeze came out hot, scoring six goals in the first quarter and leading by three going into halftime, but the Rush stormed back in the fourth quarter and brought the game within one before their comeback was cut short by the final whistle. The Breeze have yet to face the Royal this year, who are hot off an upset victory against the New York Empire and will be looking to build off that win. Montreal’s losses came from two games against the aforementioned Glory and one against New York. For a team that many feared would struggle after losing Tobe Decraene, Montreal has done well in comparison to their early-season expectations.
The season has not gone exactly as planned for the Rush, as they have still not won a game. However, no one really knew what to expect from the “Rush Reboot” going into the season and to their credit, Toronto has kept each game close, posting a goal differential of just -7 across their three losses. It's clear that the Rush have the talent to win games, but it just hasn't quite come together yet. The Lewis brothers, James Lewis and Wilkie Lewis, have continued to dominate, while foreign imports Tom Blasman and Arvids Karklins have shown impressive flashes. With four home games on the bounce, the Rush will hope that they can start converting some of those flashes of greatness into wins.
For Montreal, they have relied heavily on their veterans like Christophe Tremblay-Joncas, Quentin Bonnaud, and Phillipe Le Bourdais. Although they started off 0-3, an important win against New York could get their season back on track, especially if they can get another one when they face the Breeze at home in Quebec. The Royal notched their one win in double-overtime over New York after the Empire couldn't get a throw off as time expired in the first overtime. The Royal then began the second overtime on offense and capitalized with a cross-field shot on the endzone line to ice the game. Montreal was unafraid to huck and was brutally efficient in the redzone against the Empire. Bonnaud and Tremblay-Joncas both logged six assists in the effort. If Montreal can carry that form into this weekend, it won't be easy for the Breeze on the road to come away with the victory over a confident Royal squad.
The Breeze come into this weekend off a very disappointing result against Boston where the offense was unproductive, and the D-line struggled to convert on key chances. They will look to rally on the road and return to the efficient and effective frisbee that we saw at Carolina, when the team only turned the disc eight times. To improve on the result against Glory, DC will look for star cutter Cole Jurek to do damage after sitting out against Boston to get healthy. The Breeze will also be looking for a bounce-back game from Thomas Edmonds, who has played both ways, after struggling last game with five throwaways. The Breeze looked unusually panicked in the redzone, and both the O-line and the D-line turned the disc over on the goal line multiple times through sloppy continuation throws or poor decisions from handlers. A big part of the victory over Toronto earlier in the season was cutters looking downfield and making smart throws. Christian Boxley led the team with four assists, while Tyler Monroe and Jurek both added two. If DC wants to complete the sweep over Toronto and beat Montreal, in front of raucous home crowds, they will need to return to form and tighten up throws that seemed to get away from them against Boston.
In the last game, DC’s D-line did force turns, as Moussa Dia stacked four blocks, and AJ Merriman notched two of his own. The defense will continue to call on big bodies like Dia and Merriman to win their aerial duels with Toronto’s Karklins and James Lewis, but they will also be contending with the return of two-time All-UFA First Team selection and UFA Champion Mark Lloyd, who will make his first appearance for Toronto since 2018 during Friday’s matchup. Much like the rest of Toronto’s team at the start of the season, few know what to expect from Lloyd in his return, but if he can step in and immediately make a difference for Toronto, it will make DC’s night a lot more difficult. While Lloyd’s return may be the headline for the game, it will be an equally interesting chess match as Coach Boyle will need to choose how to deploy the D-line in order to handle a physically-imposing team like Toronto, especially after struggling with Boston’s size and physicality. Right after dealing with Lloyd, et al, DC will have to prepare to handle a huck-happy Montreal squad who trade size for speed. Fortunately, DC has no shortage of speed on the defensive end, with Alexandre Fall, Miles Grovic, and Isaac Lee all able to keep up with just about anyone in the league.
DC will be without star cutter Boxley for the trip north, so expect Coach Boyle to look to stalwarts like Monroe and Jurek to replace some of that production or to Kevin Healey, who has stepped up on the O-line at various points this season. The D-Line will be without Luke Rehfuss and Rhys Bergeron for both matches, but Theo Shapinsky and David Bloodgood return to the lineup in turn. There is also a pair of debuts for Breeze fans to get excited about, as two rookies out of the College of William & Mary, Marcus Lee and Ben Greenberg will make their debuts for the Breeze. Lee is currently listed as active for both games, and Greenberg is listed as active against Montreal. On Toronto’s side, English handler Connor McHale will miss out on the matchup, and O-Line handler Luc Comire is currently listed as questionable. Montreal has no absences, with all of their players available.
DC goes into this crucial road trip looking to get back above .500, and climb up the East Division standings. It won't come easily against a Toronto team that needs to get a win to get their season back on track or against a Montreal team that is feeling confident after a huge upset. A win propels DC past New York and back into a playoff spot, and in an East Division that is more competitive than ever, there is very little room for error. Catch the DC Breeze on Friday, May 30 at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, Ontario and on Saturday, May 31 at Complexe Sportif Claude-Robillard in Montreal, Quebec. First pull in Toronto goes up at 7:00 PM ET and at 6:00 PM ET in Montreal. Stream live at watchufa.tv.
