Photo by Alan Bloodgood
JUNE 24, 2024
By Marley Pope
In Rowan McDonnell’s 100th career game for the DC Breeze, they did what they have always done with him on the field: win.
DC pounced on a Montreal Royal squad playing the second leg of a back-to-back road trip Saturday night, coming away with a 24-16 victory to maintain their hold of first place in the East Division and clinching a playoff spot for the eighth straight year. McDonnell was honored pregame before adding one goal and assist with 208 total yards.
“There’s just tons of laughs and smiles before the game. It was a special night, some things are bigger than what happens on the field. I had a lot of close family here and it’s an honor to do what I love doing,” McDonnell said.
DC reached at least 20 goals for a third-consecutive game, with 12 scores each coming from the O-line and D-line, a perfect balance.
“It’s hard to be perfect, if you’re an offense, so to have a defense that can give us that cushion and has our back [is critical],” Breeze head coach Lauren Boyle said.
DC jumped out to a 6-3 lead after the first quarter with perfect hold, d-line conversion and red zone conversion rates. Cole Jurek scored twice, including a late clock score with only two seconds left in the quarter. Jurek continued his all-around play with two more goals, while adding two blocks, an assist, and 360 total yards.
“Cole is really game-changing. He’s such a threat both ways. On defense, he takes some of our biggest matchups after playing on offense, and we can trust him to get the job done,” Boyle said.
Montreal’s offense struggled with six turnovers in the half, and DC took advantage. The Breeze D-line scored four straight breaks to extend their lead to 11-4 with 4:07 left in the first half. AJ Merriman recorded three blocks in the opening half, and Rhys Bergeron recorded his first career hat trick. The game quickly got away from the Royal, who played one day earlier in Philadelphia and lost to the Philadelphia Phoenix 21-10.
As the second quarter continued, DC did not stop rolling and feasted on Montreal's mistakes, quickly turning them into scores. The D-line run reached seven scores in a row spanning six minutes. By the end of the run, DC led 14-4 and looked unstoppable.
At halftime, the Breeze led 15-6 with four players scoring twice and six recording at least two assists. Jonny Malks dropped five scores (2 G, 3A) and David Bloodgood followed with four (2 G, 2 A) to lead DC.
Montreal, to their credit, stayed resilient and did not let the score affect their intensity and effort. The Royal kept pace with DC in the third, scoring five goals, including two breaks.
To open the fourth quarter, Montreal scored three of the first four goals, and their confidence continued to rise. DC’s offense did not execute at the same level throughout the second half, with the result well in hand.
“This heat was affecting us more than we want to admit, and Montreal is a really good team. They had some great athletic plays,” Boyle said.
The Breeze called a timeout to avoid a stall with 6:34 remaining in the game and their lead down to 21-14. After the timeout, DC worked the disc down the field and methodically walked it in to score their first goal in six minutes.
Montreal could not overcome the hole they dug themselves into in the first half, and DC iced the game in the closing moments.
“This was not our cleanest win. I’m excited for our next practice to get back to being ourselves and finding what we’ve had earlier in the season,” Boyle said.
With several players flying to Europe for the Windmill Tournament last week, the team has not had a fully attended practice in multiple weeks. Boyle hopes the next practices can help them regain full form before two crucial regular season games.
While DC is still leading the division, Boston is only a half-game behind with three remaining games against the two Canadian teams in the division to finish the regular season.
Because the two teams split their head-to-head matchups with the same goal differential, the tiebreaker will be adjusted goal differential against division opponents.
Now, this only happens if both teams win out and end the season with the same record, but both have won four straight and are not looking to stop their winning ways.
“It’s anybody’s division, which makes training and practice so special because it can be the workout that puts your team over the edge,” McDonnell said.
The Breeze finish their home regular season schedule with an out-of-division matchup with the South Division-leading Carolina Flyers on Friday, June 28. First pull at Carlini Field is set for 7 p.m.