Photo by Rob Gilmor

JUNE 16, 2026
By Will Stuntz

The DC Breeze now sit at 6-3 following their Week 8 loss to the Boston Glory (8-1). The Breeze were drubbed 27-18, marking their worst loss in nearly a year, dating back to their 24-15 loss to the Philadelphia Pheonix on July 19, 2025. 

This result makes the East Division playoff standings much clearer, as Boston is now the clear favorite to take the No. 1 seed, and barring something miraculous, the Breeze will take the third seed and travel to New York for the first round of the playoffs. 

Glory’s offense was unstoppable, as their deep shots kept connecting, and the Breeze defense seemed to have no answer, as they only broke Glory once. Boston’s D-line also had a first-class performance, racking up eleven breaks and eleven blocks. 

The Breeze gave up 19 turnovers, the most in a game this season, aside from their bout with the Toronto Rush, in which unusually windy conditions led each team to turn over the disc more than 30 times. 

The reigning MVP, Tobe Decraene, was inevitable in this match, and he seems to have a knack for going off against the Breeze, as DC has seen his two best performances of the year. Decraene looked capable of catching every single disc thrown his way, as he was making spectacular grabs regularly, and his cutting in isolation was remarkable. Tobe led the game in both goals and assists, with seven and five, respectively. He also dished out six hockey assists, while cutting for 461 yards and throwing for 337 to make up his 798 total yards. And his efficiency stood out as well, as he completed 39 of 41 throws. 

Peter Boerth had himself a game, too, throwing four assists and hauling in two goals, and Orion Cable’s cutting attack was also notable, as he caught four goals and received for 234 yards. Glory’s D-line stars were on full display, as they had three players who found two blocks – Lander Decreane, Gus Haflin, and Oscar Graff – while another five picked up a single block. 

The Breeze had one of their worst offensive performances of the year, and it paired horribly with their single-worst defensive showing of the year. The Breeze held just 59% of the time on offense, while posting a break percentage of five. But each of the DC lines saw some noteworthy, and in some cases, breakout performances. Christian Boxley put up seven scores  – three assists and four goals  – which is the most he’s posted since DC traveled to New York back in May. Coby Loveranes posted the best scoring output of his career with six goals, and he now sits as the Breeze's leading goal scorer of 2026 with 20. Frederick Farah, in just his fourth game of the year, led the game in blocks with three, a career high for the fifth-year D-line cutter. 

The Breeze kept it competitive in the first period, going down 5-4 after the initial stanza. The Breeze started the game with a clean hold, as Boxley pitched a goal-line backhand to Loveranes for his first of six. Then Boston found a hold in just four passes in 26 seconds, with Boerth connecting with Cable on the goal line to tie it up. Boston then found their first break of the game thanks to a block from Haflin and the connection from Zach Singer to Rowan McDonnell. Boston took no chances on a multi-turn point for DC’s O-line, burning a timeout and subbing in their offensive to handle the break chance to take a 3-1 lead. Both teams traded two holds apiece to make the score 5-3, and DC received the last pull with just ten seconds on the clock. Boston fouled Tanner Gesell in the end zone on the buzzer-beater chance, setting him up on the goal line, and Gesell punched it in to Miles Grovic to bring it back within one going into the second period. 

Boston’s Roan Dunkerley quickly got on the board in the second period after hauling in a goal-line flick from Tobe Decraene, and DC responded with a clean hold of their own, thanks to a neat cut from Grovic and an accurate backhand from Boxley. Simon Carapella quickly let off a 64-yard huck to Cable in the endzone to regain their two-score lead, and this is when Boston really found their rhythm. Jac Carreiro blocked a huck attempt from Sean Mott to Loveranes, and Boston broke DC’s offense with the goal-line link between Singer and Jack Conroy. Then, throwaways from Loveranes and Theo Shapinsky on each of the next two points let Boston pick up another two break scores, and just like that, the once-close contest saw Boston take a five-point lead. DC finally managed to hold, as a sideline flick from Andrew Roy found Boxley in the endzone. Boston held again, and then another errant deep shot from the Breeze allowed McDonnell to let off a 53-yard flick to Haflin in the red zone, and they eventually punched in the break to take a 12-6 lead. Each team found another hold, and Boston’s six-score advantage took them into halftime up 17-13 with their O-line posting a perfect seven-for-seven in the first half. 

Things kept unraveling for the Breeze in the start of the third, as an endzone shot from Grovic to Jeff Wodatch on the first point was off-target and blocked by Jason Tapper, and Chris Parinella ended up finding Conroy for another break score. The Breeze countered with one of their quickest holds of the game with Boxley handing out a goal-line backhand assist to Isaac Lee in 32 seconds. However, Glory responded even faster, and their fourth pass of the point was a 69-yard flick huck from Tobe Decraene on the sideline to Boerth in the endzone. Another red zone throwaway gave Boston another all-too-easy break later in the period to extend their lead to 17-9. The Breeze offense looked to be taking shape, as they found another quick hold from a 67-yard connection from Roy to Wodatch, but Boston followed with another hold and another break to take a nine-score advantage. Each team traded holda before DC finally found their first two-point swing of the game, with a hold from Wodatch to Gabe Dowd and their first break connection of the game from Wodatch to Loveranes, bringing the score to 20-13 going into the final period. 

The fourth quarter followed a similar pattern as the last three, and after two holds from each team, Boston went on another run, holding and then breaking DC’s offense twice to extend their already-insurmountable lead to 10 at 25-15. The teams held back and forth for the rest of the match, leading to Boston’s 27-18 victory. 

The Breeze now have the next two weeks to think about the loss, as they won’t play again until Week 11 when they travel to Philadelphia for their first clash with the Hotbirds in 2026. Although the Breeze are primed to take the third seed in the East, the Toronto Rush (4-3) remain in playoff contention if the Breeze were to slip up.

Catch the Breeze in action after their hiatus on Friday, July 3 at Neumann University in Philadelphia. Stream live at watchUFA.tv. First pull flies at 7:00 p.m. ET.