Photo by Alan Bloodgood

MAY 2, 2025
By Kyle Turnbaugh

For the second week in a row, the  DC Breeze (0-1) will be at Carlini Field playing host to a divisional opponent, and after last week's close defeat to Philadelphia, the Breeze will look to rally at home in a huge week two matchup against a rebuilt Toronto Rush (0-0) roster.

This is not the Rush roster of last year that went 1-11 and was easily swept by the Breeze. Toronto is coming into this season with some serious talent and some returners that know a thing or two about winning. A lot has been written about Toronto’s imported European talent, such as the Latvian duo Arvids Karklins and Toms Abeltins, as well as the Englishman Connor McHale, the Dutchman Tom Blasman, and the Italian Simone Gasperini, but we are yet to see them all on the field for the Rush yet, as they did not play a week one matchup

What we do know a lot about is the returners, notably Mark Lloyd and the brothers James Lewis and Wilkie Lewis. Adding those players to any team makes them a threat, but combining them with highly-touted European talent gives Toronto an incredibly high ceiling. Alongside those additions are some of the bright spots of last year's Toronto team, including Griffin McKee, Dax Miller and Ryan Poloz, who will hope that combining forces with the new players will bring them more success then last season, starting with a win in DC.

For the Breeze, fresh off a disappointing loss where the offense was marred by drops and seemingly outmuscled by a strong Philadelphia defense, they will look to improve against Toronto. The good news for the Breeze offense is that both Christian Boxley and Tyler Monroe will be making their season debuts after not playing in the opener, giving the Breeze a couple more facilitators who can also be valuable downfield targets to pair with the ever-reliable Cole Jurek. The Breeze will look for Thomas Edmonds and Rowan McDonnell to build on last week's performance, but ask for more from players like Jacques Nissen and AJ Merriman, star players who could make a far greater impact than they did last week. On the defensive side, the Breeze will need to generate more blocks in order to beat the Rush, and the return of Isaac Lee and Luke Rehfuss will hopefully provide the D-Line with the reinforcements they need to succeed.

There are some worrying absences for the Breeze, including Andrew Roy, who was the engine of the Breeze O-Line against the Phoenix. Handlers like Gus Norrbom will look to step up in his place. Other notable inactive players for the Breeze include Jeff Wodatch, David Bloodgood, and Moussa Dia, who all appeared in last week's game, as well as new signings Christian Johnson and Aidan Downey. Returners Jarrod Banks and Miles Grovic will dress for the game, signaling that they will hopefully be returning soon. Notably for the Rush, Gasperini, Lloyd, and McKee are out for the game, and Poloz and Luc Comire are questionable for Saturday. 

If the Breeze want to challenge for the East Division again, they need to get back to winning ways, and shutting down an upstart Toronto team would be a great bounce-back for a DC roster with Championship Weekend on its mind. 

Catch the DC Breeze as they take on the Toronto Rush on Saturday, May 3 at Carlini Field. First pull goes up at 7:00 PM EDT. Tickets are available at thedcbreeze.com.