Photo by Bob Hume – UltiPhotos.com

JULY 29, 2025
By Kyle Turnbaugh

After a weather delay on a muggy night in DC, the DC Breeze (8-5) dominated their rival New York Empire (7-6) in the first round of the UFA Playoffs on the back of a near-perfect defensive performance. While the Breeze may have been slight favorites going into the matchup, hardly anyone would have seen an 11-goal Breeze victory off the back of 13 breaks. It was a great sendoff for the Breeze at Carlini Field, as this will be their final home game of the season, regardless of future results and an especially satisfying result for the Breeze, considering the history between the two sides. This win takes the Breeze playoff record against the Empire to 2-3: still favoring New York, but more importantly. it's the first playoff win against the Empire for the Breeze since 2016.

The Breeze are heating up at just the right time after an iffy start to the season. DC posted its best result of the year in a high-stakes situation against their top rival. The Empire have also been improving as the season has gone on, making this result even more impressive for the Breeze, as they looked as if they were in an entirely different league than the Empire. The last time the Breeze and Empire met this season was an unforgettable showdown for both sets of fans, as the Empire won in double overtime, despite controversy. The fact that earlier in the season New York beat DC in overtime and now the Breeze shut down the Empire with an 11-goal win shows just how much the Breeze have improved over the season but also how much better the Breeze are now that they are healthy.

It has been an up-and-down season for the Breeze on defense, but this performance was one of the best defensive showings by any squad throughout the whole league. The Breeze were incredible at generating and converting their chances, as they converted their first 12 break chances of the game. The Breeze defense has been middling statistically throughout the season but blew the Empire out of the water on the day, posting 13 breaks to Empire's two and 11 blocks to Empire's five. The Breeze defense was also incredibly effective at shutting down the Empire’s stars. Ben Jagt was totally neutralized, posting zero goals and assists for the first time in his UFA career. Christian Boxley moved over to D-line for eight points, specifically to handle John Randolph and did excellently, as JR was limited to just two goals and one assist. Boxley played ten defensive points after only playing two for the entire regular season. The Empire’s offensive gameplan involved frequently targeting Jasper Tom deep, but Tom and others got big on defense to limit New York’s deep looks. Once the D-line secured the disc, AJ Merriman was incredible at quarterbacking the offense. The D-line captain set the tone with three assists, two goals, a block, and a 100% completion rating - a rare feat for Merriman this season, who has had the responsibility of taking the deep shots on D-line.

While the defense may have taken all the headlines, DC’s offense was almost equally impressive. The Breeze weren't broken until there were two minutes left in the fourth quarter and only gave up seven turns to the Empire with four of those coming during fourth-quarter formalities. The Breeze veterans on offense like Rowan McDonnell, Jeff Wodatch, and Tyler Monroe know the pain of losing to the Empire in the playoffs and didn't want to leave anything up to chance. The offense's patient play, especially in the redzone, as the Breeze converted all but two chances on New York’s goal line, gave the Empire little chance to create a turnover, and therefore, kept New York out of the game. New York’s defensive strategy also seemed to encourage the Breeze to throw deep, as DC tossed 12 hucks, a high mark for a usually-conservative offense. However, the DC offense has no shortage of talented throwers when at full strength, and that showed, as they broke the mold of their usual offensive strategy and converted 10 of 12 hucks.

Going into the first quarter, nerves were high on both sides, but it was the Breeze that rose to the occasion and the Empire who struggled with the stakes. New York opened the game with a hold via Randolph, although, the DC defense did hassle them in the redzone, and there was a moment of fear, as during the next point, McDonnell threw the disc away looking for Boxley down the sideline and gave the Empire a chance to build a two-goal lead. Luckily for the Breeze, the Empire swiftly returned the disc, as Drew Schnaudigel couldn't rein in a low pass from Antoine Davis. On the second chance, Aidan Downey ran the show and played a one-two game with McDonnell for the goal. DC got their first of many breaks, as Miles Grovic, the team leader in blocks, showed great physicality to get a block working against Matt Labar. Grovic then sprinted deep and Team USA U-24 teammate Isaac Lee put the disc right where only he could get it. Grovic made the sliding grab just short of the endzone and was forced to swing the disc, but eventually, Boxley led Merriman into the endzone to set the tone with the first break of the evening.

After a back-and-forth from both sides for holds and DC showing off their hucks with Thomas Edmonds smoking his defender and Jacques Nissen putting it on a platter for him, DC began to pull away from New York with another break by forcing a late-stall throw that got picked off by Moussa Dia. Dia was then rewarded with bookends, as Merriman snuck a push pass in between New York’s defense for DC's second break of the night. The Empire followed with a quick hold, but so did the Breeze, as the New York defense continued to have no answer for Boxley as he took off deep, and Edmonds let it fly. After the O-line’s hold, DC’s defense ended the first quarter in phenomenal fashion. Kevin Healey laid out to get the block working against Jagt, and Tom facilitated the break chance, finding the big target Dia in the endzone for a third break. The defense then came out and kept New York out of the endzone to end the quarter up three goals, which proved crucial as DC received to start the second quarter. 

Although the Breeze came into the second quarter already up three goals, in this rivalry, you simply cannot afford to rest on your laurels, as the New York offense is as capable as anyone when it comes to comebacks. DC did give the Empire a quick look at an opportunity after a huck bound for Downey got blocked, but New York’s struggling D-line quickly returned the disc on a poor huck from Benjamin Simmons, and DC's offense converted on their second chance through a Monroe scoober over the top to Andrew Roy. That goal opened the flood gates for DC after a fairly close first quarter, as the Breeze peeled away, outscoring the Empire 9-4 in the second period. DC scored three breaks in a row, the first off another deep interception by Tom, eventually leading to a goal for Downey. Then, New York’s Jacob Cowan awkwardly dropped the disc in the endzone, DC marched down the field, and Boxley threw a high-arching disc into the back corner for Grovic. The break train continued, as Edmonds snatched an errant swing pass out of the air, and then Boxley put up a floating backhand into the endzone for Healey, who rose up above the Empire defense with one hand and pulled the disc down. New York momentarily settled things down, as they sent their D-line on to play offense, and Shashank Alladi converted. The Empire’s respite didn't last long, as the Breeze continued to have success with throws down the sideline, and Wodatch floated Boxley into the endzone. DC’s defense, after letting up two breaks, got back up to their very high standards and broke the Empire twice more. Merriman sent Grovic deep, and Grovic didn't have a defender in the same county as him, allowing the cutter to easily clap catch the seventh break of the day. In the next point, New York’s Marques Brownlee just overthrew his receiver, and the Breeze had another break chance with 40 seconds left in the half. The DC coaching staff finally used a time out, and Nissen found Downey in a crease in the defense for the goal. The Empire got a little good fortune to end the half, as Max Sheppard launched a last-second huck that deflected off the hands of Merriman right to Cowan, putting the Empire down only eight goals going into the second half.

The Breeze did not let off the gas pedal, as Dia’s fantastic game continued with a deep flick to Alexandre Fall. Fall came up just short of the endzone but made an easy pass to Jace Dean, who was rewarded with two goals on the day after usually playing a fairly thankless defensive role and drawing the Jack Williams matchup in this contest. With the game largely out of contention at this point, DC went on another four-goal run, including three breaks. Some of the big moments included another huge flick from Lee, which connected with Merriman and another block by Tom. New York continued to fight, but very little went their way. They looked deep for LaBar, who has been a prolific scorer all season, but not even he could drag his toes for a goal, as a great catch ended up being a turn for the Empire that the Breeze then punished with their elite handlers, as Gus Norrbom assisted Nissen. Norrbom posted a goal and an assist, as well as a 100% completion percentage on his return from an extended stay on the sideline. Following the scoring run from the Breeze that put them up 20-8 with just two-and-a-half minutes left in the third, the Breeze focused on running the clock, and the Empire thought more about their ride home than the game on the field. New York finally got their first break of the game with less than three minutes remaining in the game in an uneventful fourth quarter and made the score a slightly less embarrassing 23-12 by the time the clock read zeroes.

With this tremendous performance, the Breeze live to fight another day, and the Empire will start planning for the next season. The Breeze will hit the road to play Boston in the East Division Championship in what should be a great matchup. Boston and DC have played three times this season, and DC leads the season series 2-1. Granted, during the third game against Boston, Glory chose to rest some key players. But, the Breeze have proven that they can beat the full-strength Glory at Hormel Stadium, as they did during Week 10 off a layout buzzer beater from Edmonds. To beat Glory, the Breeze will have to continue to be stingy with the disc. If they can put on another single-digit-turnover performance and convert their redzone chances, it's hard to see the Breeze losing. If the Breeze defense can shut down Tobe Decraene the same way they did Jagt, the defense could see similar success. DC defeated Boston in the Division Championship last year by two goals at home. But, this is a far different Glory roster, and the Breeze have to get a win on the road, if they want to make their way to Madison, Wisc. for Championship Weekend where the winner of this matchup will likely play against the champion of the Central Division. Be on the lookout for more information, as the Breeze prepare to defend their East Division title on Saturday, August 9 at 5:00 PM ET at Hormel Stadium in Medford, Mass. Streaming live on watchUFA.tv.