Photo by Derek Frazer – UltiPhotos.com
JULY 30, 2023
By Aidan Delehanty
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Amongst the lightning and rain, the DC Breeze came to a thundering victory over the Boston Glory Saturday night in the first round of the East Division playoffs. They beat the Glory 19-12, making it a three-game sweep against the Boston-based team this season.
Christian Boxley led DC to the fourth playoff victory in franchise history. Boxley had a stat line of four goals, two assists and 325 reception yards. He was backed up by another Breeze O-line veteran, Rowan McDonnell with a stat line of three goals and one assist.
The Breeze played it safe in the first half, commanding a lead of 8-5 over the Glory. Each possession looked almost seamless, ensuring they were going for the easy goals and every player filling their individual roles, so they had enough energy to finish the game on a high note. A clean offense and a pair of breaks early in the game helped with the Breeze never letting up their lead.
In a rare occurrence this season, the Breeze actually outscored their opponents in the third quarter, 5-3. Those effortless scores in the opening half set the tone for the remainder of the game, forcing the Glory to expend extra energy just to earn their six break opportunities, none of which they were able to convert. The third quarter opened up the game, even in a frame where they are historically the weakest.
“I think offensively we’re trying to get easy holds," Boxley said on the O-line's performance. "We know that we have some players that can get open when they need to, so we don’t need to make risky shots. There’s no need to waste the legs during defense.”
However, with the first round of the playoffs out of the way, the Breeze now deal with the reigning AUDL champions, the New York Empire standing in their path.
The team gets a full week's break to prepare before the Divisional Final on August 12 at the Empire’s home field in New Rochelle. However, Boxley believes that there is still more work to be done to overcome the New York Empire and their star-studded roster.
“The Empire runs a lot of force middle, so we have some work to do on some new flows and new spaces to attack," he said. "Given that, force more defense and a lot of end-of-quarter stuff. They’re the best end-quarter team in the league. So, at the end of the day, we think we have a good chance if we play our game,” Boxley said.
After this weekend, there are only eight teams remaining that have a chance at crowning themselves the champion of the 2023 AUDL season. If the Breeze are able to overcome the defending champs, DC will head off to TCO Stadium at Viking Lakes in Eagan, Minnesota for Championship Weekend. It would be the first time the franchise has ever qualified for the final four. There, they would have to play in the semi-final game on August 25 to qualify for the Final on the next day, August 26.