May 11, 2023
By Shaggy Shragis
The Philadelphia Phoenix (0-2) travel north this weekend to take on the Boston Glory (1-0) in the Hotbirds first must win game of the season. Philadelphia is coming off a one point loss on the road against the DC Breeze, while Boston won their season opener against the Toronto Rush. With the Rush having a disastrous first couple of games, it is likely that the winner of this weekend's contest between Philly and Boston will have the inside track for the third and final spot in the Eastern Division playoffs.
Boston crushed the visiting Canadians with a final score of 25-14. They won every quarter, including an 8 - 3 second that featured 7 Toronto turnovers. The 30 turnovers forced by the Boston Glory is a franchise record, and it should be noted that the Glory are last all time in opposing team turnovers. That puts them behind about a dozen teams that no longer exist, and puts this outlier of a performance in perspective. This was the Glory’s best game in franchise history.
The Boston Glory are now undefeated in their opening game, with three victories in three straight years. They have never lost a season opener, and have never won the following game. Boston’s consistency in their roster, in their play styles, and in their performance has been rocky at best, and their ability to show up at the start rarely carries through to the following week.
Philly and Boston have matched up 4 times, and the 2 - 2 record does little to describe how evenly these two teams have been matched. Boston has scored one more point, and both teams have 67 turnovers in the contests. Even the home and away records are neck and neck, as each team has won once on the road and once at home. In terms of parity, this is one of the closest rivalries in the league.
Take some of the classic Boston-Philadelphia sports rivalries and sprinkle in some ultimate and you get an additional wrinkle: these two teams do not like each other. A scuffle between Mike Arcata and Willie Stewart broke out last season, and Sean Mott has had to be held back several times in each matchup. Both of these teams will be jawing the entire time, and look for fireworks after each point.
The Glory defense had a field day against Toronto, but their offense seemed stagnant for such a one-sided matchup. Toronto failed to capitalize on several turns that the Hotbird D line has been punching in against much stiffer competition. Toronto was 1 for 11 on break chances, well below the fantastic 40% clip that the Philadelphia defense is averaging this season. Boston did get an impressive start for Orion Cable, their giant downfield, who had six goals in the season debut. Philly fans may remember Cable from a year ago, when his four goal, four assist performance pushed the Glory past Philadelphia in a 25 - 24 nailbiter. It seemed like nothing the Phoenix did on D could contain him.
Both Cable and his hulking partner, Tanner Halkyard, could prove a problem for a Philadelphia defense that has not been tested deep, and has gotten smaller since last season with the departures of Matt Esser and Mike Arcata, and Gavin Abrahamsson still in college (Gavin had three blocks in two games against Boston last season). The torrential downpour in New York limited the deep offense for both teams, and DC is not a particularly huck happy team. Neither is Boston, who was middle of the pack last season in hucks per game. But the ever-opportunistic Ben Sadok, who leads Boston in career throwing yards, could start chucking if Philly defenders start gumming up the handler space.
If that happens, the Hotbirds will need to make do with Max Trifillis—coming off an incredible game in DC—Campy or Nardelli as their bigger bodied defenders downfield. Roger has shown more willingness to mix the offensive and defensive lines, and we could see James Pollard pulling double duty this weekend as a way to limit Boston’s downfield attack.
The Phoenix offense has been lights out against Boston these past two seasons, scoring 19 or more points in each game with well above their typical efficiency. This could be the “get right” game for Jordan Rhyne, who crushed Boston in Beantown last season with seven assists, two goals, and over 800 combined yards. Despite the Glory’s “Giant Killer”—Chris Bartoli—both James Pollard and Greg Martin have proven to be too big and too fast for Boston’s defenders, and the Hotbird deep game which ignited in the nation's capital should be in for an explosion in Beantown.
Philadelphia’s defense, which has already looked impressive against the two best offenses in the league, should be able to feast against a Boston attack that looked haphazard even in a blowout. New additions Justin Keller and Kainoa Chun-Moy breathed life into the Phoenix’s handler defense against the Breeze, and should be even more destructive against the less patient Boston Glory. Everyone on Philly’s D line has been balling out this season, from established pieces like Paul Owens or Eric Witmer to the rookies like Ethan Holmgren, who’s buzzer beater mack during the Breeze game was a highlight of the season.
My Prediction: This may come back to bite me in the tuchus, but it feels like a block party is making its way from the streets of Philly up to Boston. I predict 10 different Phoenix players will record at least one block, and that the Phoenix will take the edge in the series with a commanding 22 - 18 victory. Of note, Boston is 1 for 11 all time in games in which they score 21 or fewer points; and Philadelphia has held both opponents to fewer than 21 points this season. If the Hotbird defense can maintain their high level of play, even with the offensive struggles, this looks to be the first Philly victory of the 2023 season.
