May 16, 2025
By Alex Rubin

As their respective NBA teams battle through an intense playoff series, the New York Empire and Boston Glory will commence their season series on Friday Night Frisbee. Last season, these fierce rivals split their regular season series; each road team won by two goals. The Glory got the last laugh, winning their playoff matchup on a Jeff Babbitt buzzer beater. 

This season both the Glory and Empire field some of the strongest lineups in the Association. Calvin Brown made his Empire debut last week, tossing three assists while racking up almost 500 throwing yards. As Empire newcomers Max Sheppard and Everest Shapiro get more and more comfortable with their offense, New York should start resembling the nigh-unstoppable juggernaut of 2023. These teams have a lot of familiarity with each other as well. Boston’s Ethan Fortin played the last three seasons in New York before returning to the Glory, with whom he spent the 2021 season. This will be his first game back in Boston against his former club. Of course, he shared a D-line with Babbitt who has won MVP awards with both franchises.

This matchup presents a battle of strengths. With full lineup of lengthy defenders in Antoine Davis, Oliver Fay, Marques Brownlee, and Jacob Cowan, the Empire have the personnel to deter most huck looks and compete for the hucks that do get thrown (New York averages the second most blocks per game in the league with 13.33).

On offense though, the Glory have the fourth highest huck completion percentage in the league (73.08 percent) while throwing the third most hucks per game (9.50, just below the league leading Hustle and Wind Chill who throw 10). Boston also has the highest hold percentage in the league, converting 84.85 percent of their offensive points into scores. 

While New York has an imposing defense, the Glory offense is incredibly formidable. The additions of Calvin Stoughton and Tobe Decraene bolster a downfield attack led by Babbitt and Orion Cable. With Ben Sadok averaging half as many throwaways this season compared to his career average, and the always-steady Ned Dick by his side in the backfield, the Glory blend patience with power to form a well-rounded attack.

All that being said, the Glory have only faced two relatively easy games against Montreal. The Empire just beat Montreal too last week, and are also better tested having already played (but lost to) the Oakland Spiders too. While the Glory allow the second fewest scores against per game (14.50) in the league, they haven’t faced a team as good as New York yet this season. While still an early-season clash, this game will almost certainly affect the playoff picture as both Boston and New York are among the favorites to win the division. Any game between them will have an effect on seeding and home-field advantages come the playoffs at the end of July.

Both teams will be playing their first game of a two-game weekend this Friday night. The Empire continue their weekend in Montreal for a rematch with the Royal while Boston heads down to DC for their first game this season against the Breeze. The Glory and Empire are not scheduled to face off again until their regular season finale on July 19.