July 9, 2026
By Alex Rubin
A few weeks after Minnesota prevailed against Oakland in a battle between two title contenders, the Wind Chill once again face a tough challenge with the defending champions coming to town for a 2025 title game rematch.
Of course, last season Boston won this matchup 17-15. This time around, a few things will be different. First, Boston will travel for this game without three major contributors: Tannor Johnson-Go, Jeff Babbitt, and Rowan McDonnell. With some open roster spots, the Glory have a great opportunity to showcase their depth. Kai DeLorenzo, Jackson McGuinness, Tyler Chan, Roan Dunkerley, and Jason Tapper have all played in fewer than half of Boston’s games this season, but they’ll be called upon for this critical late season matchup.
Even while giving some playing time to the rest of their roster, Boston will still rely on their stars. Tobe Decraene leads the league in total scores, assists, and plus/minus. Thomas Edmonds, Ben Sadok,Ryan Dinger, Simon Carapella, Orion Cable, and Peter Boerth have proven an effective starting offensive unit. Boston has thrown the second-fewest turnovers per game in the league this season, but they’ll be up against one of the top defenses in the league.
Unlike Boston, Minnesota is nearly at full strength, though they’ll be missing the moxie of Bryan Vohnoutka and the smooth athleticism of Thomas Shope. In their place, the Wind Chill are putting more and more trust in Zach Morton. The second year player is enjoying a breakout season after seeing playing time in just one game in 2025. Last weekend was his first on the O-line and he tallied 12 goals across two games.
As the Wind Chill continue to make tweaks to their lineup, they might uncover more gems like Morton. Minnesota has already clinched the top spot in their division and at this point are playing both for seeding at Championship Weekend and to challenge their lineups and tactics against top teams ahead of the playoffs. At 10-0, the Wind Chill are a game ahead of Boston and Oakland in the race for the top seed. Austin at 8-0 could still catch up should they make it out of the South Division playoffs. Of course, Boston could upend that picture with a win in this game, but they’ll have a tough time making it out of the East Division playoffs, too.
Last season, before their championship run, the Glory suffered a late-season slump, losing three of their final four regular season games. That slide did not end up mattering once the playoffs started, of course, so Boston has a bit of a win-win situation here. Either they beat an undefeated championship favorite, or they know that they can withstand a late season loss and still come out on top.
The Glory will still be aiming for the win, given that they have home field advantage in the East Division playoffs at stake. With just one loss, they’re a game up on New York. A win in this game would clinch the top seed and a first round bye, while a loss could make next week’s matchup with Montreal a must-win event to avoid a tough first round playoff matchup.
