Photo by Leo Troconis

JULY 15, 2025
By Kyle Turnbaugh

Over the weekend, the DC Breeze (7-4) secured the second seed in the East and a home playoff game by defeating the Boston Glory (9-2) at home. The Breeze are currently the only team to have defeated Glory and have done it at home and on the road. If the Breeze were to meet Boston again, it would come in the East Division Championship after the Breeze match up at Carlini Field against the New York Empire once again. Going into this past Saturday's matchup, Glory had clinched the top seed in the East Division with a victory over the Philadelphia Phoenix on Friday, and were therefore resting some key players like Jeff Babbitt and Tannor Johnson-Go. Summer storms delayed the start of the game, but once the first pull was up, there were no more disruptions from there. 

Although Glory fielded a weaker lineup for this game, they still had a number of star players in action, such as Ben Sadok, Orion Cable, and Tobe Decraene. The Breeze started off slow, and Cable caused a lot of trouble for DC in the first quarter. Glory rookie handler Ryan Dinger ripped an early huck, which is rare for Boston’s offense, down to Cable, who started off his big day with a monster catch over Moussa Dia. The Breeze responded on the ensuing point with Thomas Edmonds and Rowan McDonnell continuing to work as a dynamic duo. First, Edmonds found McDonnell for a goal, and then McDonnell recreated the game winner from last week by leading Edmonds into the endzone off a cut from the handler space. DC survived an early break scare after a throwaway from McDonnell gave Boston a chance, but the O-line played high-pressure defense that forced the Glory into a throwaway of their own, getting the disc back and holding through Coby Loveranes. Even if the Breeze O-line turned the disc, they were frequently able to get  it back by forcing high-stall situations against a Boston D-line that was without many of their more experienced throwers. However, the first break of the day finally came as Boston’s Sebastian Rossi blocked a pass from Edmonds deep in DC territory, giving Glory an easy break chance. The Breeze responded with a hold, and nearly a break of their own, but a pass from Ben Greenberg couldn't quite find Dia in the endzone, as Sadok came up with the block. Boston then responded by looking for Cable in the endzone again, who came down with the disc, thanks to his major size advantage over Charlie McCutcheon. With their break and end-of-quarter goal, Glory ended the first quarter with a two-goal lead over the Breeze.

Perhaps the Breeze were affected by the weather delay and the shortened warmup because after a slow start, they dominated the second quarter. The O-line began with a clean hold as Christian Boxley, on his return from injury, threw an assist to Andrew Roy, who had an excellent day with a goal, four assists, and zero turnovers on 51 throws. The Breeze then got their break back, as Miles Grovic intercepted an endzone-bound pass from Sadok. DC then subbed on their O-line, and McDonnell threw a backhand huck into space that only Boxley could get to. After a few swings, Jacques Nissen threaded a pass to Boxley for the game-tying break. Cable continued to beat the Breeze defense in the air, but DC struck back with cross-field throws that Boston’s defense couldn't keep up with, which eventually opened up space for Aidan Downey to score. The Breeze took their first lead of the day with their second break, but it took two blocks for them to convert. First, Alexandre Fall laid out for a great block, but a miscommunication led to a Dia throwaway. Boston didn't have the disc for long, though, as Jasper Tom blocked a low throw from Calvin Stoughton and then immediately shot deep for a wide open Fall. The disc eventually ended up in the hands of Jace Dean, who threw a slightly errant backhand to Tom, who had to lay out to secure the break and bookends for himself. The Breeze then began to build a lead with the offense remaining consistent and the defense creating some chances. The D-line pushed DC further out in front, as AJ Merriman picked off a misplaced pass from Nathanial Dick and eventually found an open Kevin Healey in the endzone. A second throwaway from McDonnell on the day opened up the door for Boston, but following a timeout, Merriman got the disc right back with a clean block against Decraene. Greenberg then ripped a hammer, a throw we have seen him get very comfortable with over the course of the season, to an open Healey, who scored his second goal of the quarter. The Breeze stepped it up in the second quarter and flipped a two-goal deficit into a two-goal lead going into the second half.

The Breeze defense continued their hot streak entering the second half. Although they didn't break, they forced a turnover and made Boston take nearly three minutes to score on the first point of the hald. The O-line continued to perform with Nissen finding Roy waiting in a gap in Boston’s defense before making the easy throw to Loveranes for the goal. The Breeze offense was very effective on the day, holding 78% of the time and only throwing a modest 12 turnovers. Half of the O-line's scores were in under a minute, as well, showing that the Breeze were a little more willing to play aggressively and take shots down field than they usually are. The Breeze defense continued to pour it on, as they finally got one over Cable with Frederick Farah blocking Cable's late-stall hammer attempt and Grovic making a late-stall throw of his own to find Downey in the back corner of the endzone for the break. After the defense made Glory work for another long hold, the Breeze O-line came out for another quick hold. Downey fired a flick towards the back of the endzone, and a Boston defender clipped it with his hand but not enough to stop the disc from finding Loveranes. The Breeze offense ran into a little bit of trouble, as they tried to cram it down the sideline before getting shut down by Jason Tapper, but the Breeze O-line immediately switched on to defense and forced Glory into a quick turnover and an easy goal for the Breeze. The defense came up with one more great play in the quarter with their strong downfield defense forcing a high stall on Albert Yuan whose desperate pass was blocked by McCutcheon. The D-line quickly moved downfield with a Greenberg huck to Grovic, and Dia put a low pass into the endzone for a sliding Rhys Bergeron, who has scored in the last two matchups against Boston, despite having not scored since the road victory against Carolina. Glory then quickly scored to keep the game reasonably close, but the Breeze still held a three-goal lead going into the fourth, and Boston seemed a little tuned out, given the late start and the fact that this game didn't matter to them.

Tyler Monroe kicked off the final period of the game with an assist to Nissen for just his seventh goal of the season, but most of the intrigue of the fourth quarter was dominated by a five-minute-long break chance for the Breeze. It began with Farah going stride for stride with the Belgian star Decraene and beating him in the deep space with a block. The defense was working down the field, but a questionable-at-best foul call forced them back, messing up the rhythm and causing a throwaway from DC’s Dean. However, more Tom heroics recovered possession for the Breeze, and the defense was able to bleed the clock all the way down to three minutes remaining before Coach Boyle called the timeout. The fresh legs of the O-line went out and patiently executed with Roy assisting Boxley for the break that put the game on ice. The few remaining points were holds, as the Breeze defended home turf with a four-goal victory.

With this victory, the Breeze have clinched the playoffs for the ninth season in a row and are set to face off against the New York Empire at Carlini Field in the first round. There is, of course, one more regular season game to play: a road trip to Philadelphia that many thought would be consequential but that now holds no stakes for either party, as the Phoenix have been eliminated from playoff contention. It will be interesting to see the Breeze’s approach to this final regular season game – whether they choose to prioritize recovery and rest some key players or they choose readiness and approach this game like any other. All of that aside, this has shaped into another successful season for the Breeze. After a questionable start and injuries throughout the season, the squad has peresevered and secured another game at Carlini for the Breeze faithful and another potential trip to Championship Weekend, should the Breeze defeat the Empire and then Glory one more time in Medford.

Catch the Breeze this weekend in Aston, Pa., as DC looks for one more regular season win to lock up an 8-4 record and head into the playoffs on a high note. Live on watchUFA.tv at 6:00 PM ET.

Get your tickets now at thedcbreeze.com for East Division playoff action at Carlini Field, as the Breeze host the Empire on Saturday, July 26 at 7:00 PM ET.