Photo by Derek Frazer – UltiPhotos.com
MAY 20, 2024
By Marley Pope
The DC Breeze (3-1) edged out their third straight victory in a double overtime thriller against the Philadelphia Phoenix (0-3), 24-23.
Elliot Bonnet once again turned in a monster performance for the Breeze with four goals, four assists, and 714 total yards, while completing the game-winning 56-yard huck to Tyler Monroe.
DC’s Cole Jurek led all scorers with six goals and 30 points played, while adding 313 receiving yards. He consistently found deep space behind the defense to spark big offensive movement for the Breeze.
Philly cutter James Pollard had possibly the best individual performance in the entire league in the last couple of years. His finishing line included five goals, five assists, 500 receiving yards and 463 throwing yards. No UFA player has completed a 400/400 game this season or last making this loss sting that much more for the Phoenix.
Philadelphia took their first lead in the opening quarter after converting two break chances in less than a minute to lead 6-4. DC responded in the final minute of the first quarter with a goal from handler Zach Norrbom, his first goal since 2022. Norrbom finished with five goals in his return, providing crucial offense to keep DC within range throughout.
DC had a break chance with three minutes to play in the first half, but Philly’s Mike Campanella broke up the play in the end zone to preserve Philly’s one-goal lead. Campanella then provided the assist to Max Trifillis for the Phoenix’s 12th goal in the first half, surpassing their offensive output in the entire previous matchup with the Breeze.
DC had the last opportunity to score in a high-flying first half, where Bonnet found Jeff Wodatch in the back of the end zone as time expired with Philadelphia leading 13-12.
In the third quarter, Philadelphia began to separate by converting another break chance to lead 17-14 with 4:36 remaining. The Breeze failed to force any turnovers on defense, and the Phoenix were able to take advantage of the few mistakes that they made late in the game.
DC closed the gap to one goal in the final moments of the third quarter before Trifillis completed a highlight catch as Philadelphia again scored as time expired, pushing their lead back to two at 19-17 heading into the game's final frame.
Charlie McCutcheon scored a break chance to cut the Breeze’s deficit to one with 4:55 left in regulation, and DC’s defense turned up the pressure when Isaac Lee made a diving breakup in Philadelphia’s backfield leading to the Breeze tying the game at 20 just 30 seconds later.
DC defender Jace Dean then broke up another Philadelphia pass in the end zone to give the Breeze possession and a chance to take the lead. The Breeze finally broke through with a Jurek score with 27 seconds remaining. Rowan McDonnell completed seven passes on the possession to power the Breeze to score.
Philadelphia needed a last-second heave to tie the game and Pollard stood tall in the back of the end zone to make a spectacular catch to tie the game at 21 and send it into overtime. Pollard’s goal was Philly’s third buzzer-beater of the game.
In the first overtime period, both teams scored twice with relative ease. Pollard notched his fifth goal with 10 seconds left to push the game to a second overtime. After the Phoenix missed a chance to score with an errant pass from veteran Sean Mott, DC's coaching staff quickly called a timeout to sub on the o-line, which wasted no time in moving the disc up the field giving Bonnet the opportunity to find Monroe streaking deep down the field to win the game.
In the heartbreaking loss, the Phoenix tallied a season-high 23 goals with hyper-efficient offense in what seemed like a perfect night to get their first win of the season. A 100% hit rate on hucks, 97% pass completion, and 85% red zone completion still could not get the job done for Philadelphia.
DC finished another regular-season sweep of the Phoenix, winning 13 consecutive matchups with Philly dating back to 2017. DC gets extra rest with the next week off before facing the Toronto Rush at home on Friday, May 31st. First pull at Carlini Field is set for 7pm. Tickets are available at thedcbreeze.com.
