JUNE 28, 2023
By Aidan Delehanty

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The DC Breeze take on the reigning champions, the New York Empire one last time in regular season play on a road trip to New Rochelle, New York. The Breeze will face the Empire at Monroe College’s Joseph F. Fosina field this Friday, June 30th at 7:00 PM. 

The team is currently in the midst of an impressive three-game win streak, with two of them being back-to-back on the road against the Montreal Royal and Boston Glory. This is the longest win streak the Breeze have put together this season, and they hope to continue it this week with a win over the unbeaten Empire. 

The Empire (8-0) currently sit as the undefeated one seed in the East Division, and the Breeze sit at the number two spot with a 6-2 record. DC's three-game win streak has helped solidify them as the two seed in the standings and has also put a good amount of distance between them and the teams tied for the three seed. 

Currently, three teams sit in third place with a 4-4 record: the Boston Glory, Philadelphia Phoenix, and Toronto Rush. It seems very unlikely that any of these teams will be able to dethrone the Breeze for the two seed in the playoffs. 

The last time the Breeze matched up against the Empire this season, they lost by just one goal in overtime by a final score of 18-17. This has been the story of the past few matchups against the Empire where the Breeze struggled to close on top and lost by a slim margin. 

If the Breeze can beat New York this week, they still have a chance of dethroning the undefeated champs and taking over as the one seed later in the season. This would give them a bye in the first round of the playoffs, and they would then play the winner of the first round game. The Breeze are not in control, however, as the Empire would need to lose one other game, which isn't out of the realm of possibility as they head out for a west-coast swing to take on the Colorado Summit and Salt Lake Shred on July 14th and July 15th, respectively.

Breeze players and coaches for the team have talked about the importance of spending time together, bonding and getting as many reps as possible. It seems like their road trip this past weekend was a great bonding experience for the team and hopefully, that extra time together will be the secret ingredient they need to topple the Empire for the first time since 2021.

The game from Joseph F. Fosina field in New Rochelle will be live on AUDL.tv at 7:00 PM.