Photo by Leo Troconis
JUNE 9, 2025
By Kyle Turnbaugh
The DC Breeze (4-3) earned their third-consecutive win against East Division rivals New York Empire (3-5) in dominant fashion at Carlini Field. The offense, spearheaded by a vintage eight assist performance from Rowan McDonnell, only had eight turnovers and surrendered a mere two breaks to a struggling New York D-line. The game was also a showcase for Breeze rookies, as four players who are in their first season with the team appeared over the course of the victory. Micah Wagner, out of Tulane and Coby Loveranes, out of Virginia Tech were especially impressive in their first games. Wagner logged three blocks and a goal and assist, and Loveranes scored three goals after stepping onto the O-line in his first game.
While the O-line masterclass may have garnered a lot of the attention, going into the game, all eyes were on the D-line, thanks to the highly-anticipated Breeze debut of Aidan Downey. The pressure of the rivalry certainly didn't overwhelm Downey, who stepped on the field and immediately made a difference with his first throw, completing a beautiful flick huck to Miles Grovic for the first break of the game. Over the course of the game, the Callahan winner threw two assists, scored a goal and picked off a pass from Everest Shapiro in a debut that certainly didn't disappoint Breeze fans.
The Breeze opened the game with a clean hold, a good sign given the squad's offensive struggles as of late, but it was the next point that really set the tone for the game. New York’s offense worked the disc up to about half field before Axel Agami looked deep for the Empire’s number one target, Ben Jagt. The pass sailed just out of bounds, and Jagt’s greatest attempt failed to find a receiver. This point was the early sign of one of the glaring issues with New York’s offense: without Calvin Brown, they seem to lack a handler with the confidence to take deep shots and quarterback the offense. This was epitomized by the Empire’s 36% huck completion percentage. After the turn, Jace Dean founnd Downey, who unleashed a perfectly-shaped flick to a streaking Grovic to put the Breeze up two in the first period. After holds from both sides, McDonnell logged the second of his eight assists on the night by completing a huck assist to Loveranes, whose first touch of the disc was his first UFA goal. Another rookie showed out on the very next point, with a block from Wagner giving the Breeze a chance to break. Once the disc reached Downey on the goal line, he faked out two New York defenders, sending them flying before throwing the easy goal to Grovic.
After cruising through the opening quarter of the game and going up three scores, the Breeze survived a scare in the second quarter where the Empire struck back and got within one goal after a hold and a break propelled by Jagt and company executing following a Cole Jurek drop. The Breeze then stabilized with goals from Jurek, Loveranes and Gus Norrbom, two of which came from assists from McDonnell. Loveranes continued adding to his goal total in a fantastic debut, as he came down with a rare huck from Tyler Monroe. The next break opportunity arose after a drop from Shapiro. After a Breeze timeout to bring on the O-line, Jacques Nissen broke through a tough double team from Marques Brownlee and Antoine Davis to find Andrew Roy, who swung the disc to Jurek, who then found an unguarded Jeff Wodatch in the endzone. With the lead at two, the Breeze had a chance to go back up three goals with just a minute remaining, but they couldn't quite find the endzone. The Empire actually had a chance with a few seconds left, but Brownlee’s hail mary attempt was handblocked by Roy to end the first half.
After the Empire managed to keep it close with the Breeze for the first half, the second half is where the Breeze began to really break away from their rivals. McDonnell had another dominant period with three assists, a goal, and a physical block on Jagt to shut down an Empire break chance. The Breeze O-line looked impervious against a leaky New York defense, going 5/5 on hold chances in the third quarter, with three of those five holds being scored in about thirty seconds or less. The Breeze were much more willing to throw deep looks than in previous games, going 9/10 on hucks, straying away from the typical DC small ball strategy. Whether this was an intentional adjustment or just the Breeze taking advantage of a struggling New York defense remains to be seen. The defense also continued to thrive, notching another break after Downey stepped in the lane to pick off a pass from Shapiro, and the Breeze O-line subbed on to convert the chance. The third period ended with the Breeze on offense and the chance to go up three goals on their rivals once again. After bleeding the clock down, the Breeze had the final shot, which Monroe took, tossing a looping flick that curved toward Thomas Edmonds in the back of the endzone. Despite being blanketed by two Empire defenders, Edmonds somehow came down with the disc, thrusting it into the air to celebrate and put an exclamation point on a commanding quarter for the Breeze.
The final frame of the game was all Breeze, as they outscored the Empire 7-2 through the quarter with the defense destroying any hopes of a fourth quarter rally for New York and giving the offense some much-deserved rest. The D-line came out hot, forcing a late-stall hammer from the Empire, which sailed just out of the reach of Jacob Cowan. Ben Greenberg then threw a hammer of his own, but this one would connect, finding Downey for his first Breeze goal. Greenberg would be repaid with a break goal of his own, courtesy of AJ Merriman, who did well handling difficult assignments on defense all day. Other fourth-quarter highlights included bookends for Grovic, who got the block and then sprinted to the endzone to receive a 60-yard laser beam from Wagner. Rhys Bergeron also unleashed a 60+ yard huck of his own to end the game, which looked like it was destined to be blocked before Wagner somehow came down with the disc, capping off his excellent debut and rubbing salt into the wounds of New York.
Overall, this was an excellent performance and a crucial win for the Breeze, not just for bragging rights over the Empire, but also for playoff positioning. This win puts the Breeze back above .500, and into second in the division past Philadelphia, who fell to an increasingly-threatening Montreal team. For New York, they fall into fifth in the division, only above 2-4 Toronto and below a free-falling Philadelphia team and a climbing Montreal squad. Boston sits comfortably atop the division, and it is difficult to see that changing. The Breeze will be pleased to be second, but cannot afford to rest on their laurels. We have seen throughout the season that every team in the East is capable, and if DC wants to hold onto their spot and make the playoffs, they will have to continue holding off the tough opposition that wants to unseat them, namely Montreal.
The Breeze will return to action this Saturday on the road for a rematch against New York. If the Breeze can seep the regular-season series over New York for a second consecutive season, it may be enough to cement the Breeze’s playoff position, while simultaneously sinking the hopes of the Empire. Looking past the Empire, the Breeze still have to play Boston twice, as well as Philadelphia and Montreal once each, meaning there will be no easy games for what should be an action-packed and contentious playoff push. Catch the Breeze-Empire rematch from Mt. Vernon, NY this Saturday at 7:00 PM ET on watchUFA.tv.
