JUNE 2, 2026
By Will Stuntz

The DC Breeze have risen to 5-2 after their two-game road trip to Canada, where they took on the Toronto Rush (3-3) and Montreal Royal (1-6), and defeated both of the East Division opponents handily.  Prior to the trip, DC sat one spot outside of playoff contention, but the win against Toronto on Friday night put them back in third place, and the win against Montreal, paired with Toronto’s loss to the Boston Glory (5-0) on Sunday gave DC a two-game advantage over the playoff-hopeful Rush. 

Both games were very similar: DC’s opponents took early leads, and the Breeze would claw their way back throughout the middle of the game. And in both games, they went on runs late, which led them to victories that, if you just saw the box score, you would’ve thought it was never in doubt for the Breeze. 

The Breeze were not at full strength for the road trip either, as Christian Boxley and Charlie McCutcheon were unavailable for the trip up north. Boxley has been huge for the Breeze O-line, and he leads the team in receiving yards, while sitting in ninth place in the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) for the same metric. McCutcheon is a major piece for the Breeze D-line, as he’s played the sixth-most defensive points for the Breeze this year, and put up his best performance of 2026 the last time around with Montreal when he chalked up three aerial blocks over Malik Auger-Semmar in the endzone. Other than those two who couldn’t make the trip, AJ Merriman went down with a leg injury in the first quarter of the Toronto game but came back on quickly and played the rest of the game. He was unable to suit up against Montreal, however. With Boxley’s absence in both games and the loss of Merriman against Montreal, we saw a new face take the lead on the Breeze O-line: Miles Grovic. 

Grovic was making plays on both lines against Toronto, racking up three assists, two goals, and a block. Then, against Montreal, he handed off his defensive duties and erupted for nine assists, a goal, and another block, while totaling 583 yards. 

Also getting active against Toronto were Jacques Nissen and Micah Wagner, among others. Nissen threw four assists and tallied two blocks in 19 points on the O-line. Wagner posted one of the best statistical games of his young career, batting away three discs, hauling in a goal, and throwing two assists. 

For Toronto, their highly-touted rookie quarterback, Max Pettenuzzo was everything he’s been hyped up to be and more. The University of Victoria Callahan nominee led the Rush in goals and assists, with three apiece, while moving the disc 703 yards. 

The Toronto game was a high-turnover affair for both teams, thanks to wind speeds upwards of 26 mph. DC and Toronto combined for 73 total turnovers. Nothing can demonstrate the wind's effect on this game like the first point of the match when DC turned the disc over four times, and Toronto gave it back three times before the Rush converted the break. And unfortunately for DC, the second point was very similar, as each team turned it over numerous times before Toronto converted another break to take a 2-0 lead. DC and Toronto traded a few holds throughout the rest of the quarter, many of which included a couple of turnovers, and a late DC throwaway on the last point allowed Ryan Poloz to connect with Martin Gallant for a late break, which gave Toronto a 7-4 lead after the first period. 

DC’s inability to convert breaks was short-lived, as they proceeded to convert three breaks in a row to start the second quarter, tying the game up 7-7 with the O-line staying on the bench. Each team followed with a hold before Petenuzzo dropped a pull to give DC another break chance on the goal line, and Brandon Lamberty punched it in to Billy O’Bryan for DC’s first lead at 9-8. Pettenuzzo turned the disc over again, but DC forfeited the break chance by a dropped pass from Merriman, and Phil Turner let off a flick through a plethora of DC defenders and found Gallant in the endzone to tie it back up. The Breeze responded quickly, with their third throw of the point being a 45-yard Hammer from Nissen to Sean Mott in the endzone. Another lengthy, high-turnover point took the last 2:21 off the clock, ultimately to no avail for both teams, and the Breeze led 10-9 going into the break. 

The wind began to die down in the third period, but not by much, with gusts still reaching 21 mph. DC and Toronto began the third by trading holds to keep DC’s lead at two, then Gagan Chatha dropped a pass, and Tanner Gesell hauled in a huck on the goal line from Grovic and let off a runner to Kevin Healey, who chased it down in the endzone to extend DC’s lead to 14-11. Toronto held and then capitalized on a throwaway from Gabe Dowd to bring their deficit back to two. But, DC followed with a similar sequence of events, holding, then converting a break. Both teams earned another hold before the end of the third to give DC a 17-14 lead entering the final period. 

DC put the nail in the coffin early in the fourth, as Toronto started with the disc, and Rowan Jameison dropped a pass that allowed Merriman to find Healey in the endzone for a break, and Isaiah Masek-Kelly followed that with a drop of his own that led to Wiebe van den Brink unleashing a 35-yard backhand to Wagner in the endzone that extended DC’s lead to five. Both teams found a dirty hold before Gallant threw it away on offense, and Merriman threw another break assist, this time to the rookie Joshua Lightner, which extended DC’s lead to six with less than three minutes to play, putting the victory out of reach for Toronto. DC found the 23-18 victory shortly after. Coming off the shorthanded victory, DC was determined to do it again the next night with hopes of knocking off the Royal for the second time this season. 

Despite Montreal’s abhorrent record, they’ve proven that they can be competitive against legitimate contenders, most notably in their two-point losses to Boston and DC.

The same man who led Montreal to the near-upset of the Breeze in week two had his fingerprints all over the week six rematch as well: Auger-Semmar. The seven-year UFA veteran is putting up MVP-caliber numbers, despite 2026 being his return from a two-year hiatus from the league. In this game, he threw five assists, scored three goals, and picked off a pass, while totaling 559 yards. 

For DC, other than Grovic’s monster outing, second-year players Coby Loveranes and Wagner, along with the rookies Lightner and Dowd, led the Breeze to victory, further showcasing how DC’s young core may be one of the scariest groups for opponents to face for years to come. Dowd scored five goals, and Loveranes picked up four. Wagner found another three blocks to go along with two goals, and Lightner threw three assists and picked up a goal with neither of those two playing more than one point on offense. 

DC took a 1-0 lead after Andrew Roy dished out an assist to Grovic, and Montreal followed with a clean hold of their own, as Auger-Semmar found Christophe Tremblay-Joncas in the endzone. Then, throwaways from Loveranes and Mott allowed Montreal to find two break scores and a 3-1 lead. Grovic quickly cut the deficit with his first assist of the game when he let off a 74-yard huck to Theo Shapinsky. Each team found a few holds before the Breeze gave up another break chance to the Royal, and after Montreal subbed their offense in, Ywan Cohonner connected with Tremblay-Joncas from 39-yards out to extend their lead to three after the first period. This left DC with another breakless first quarter that put them at a 7-4 deficit. 

And once again, the DC break drought didn’t last, as a block from Lamberty and a throwaway from Enzo Forget gave DC two easy breaks to start the second period, cutting the deficit to 7-6. But, Montreal responded, as Tremblay-Joncas let off a long backhand to Antoine Dubé in the endzone, and Jeremie Giard made a block on the next point that set up another break score from Jakob Brissette to Antoine Rousseau to take the three-score advantage back. DC gave Montreal another break chance, but Nissen made a block to get it back and shortly after, dealt a huck to Dowd in the endzone who layed out for the score. Tremblay-Joncas dropped a pass, and van den Brink made the dish to Wagner for another DC break, cutting the deficit back to one. Each team picked up two more holds before Wagner picked one off, and Lightner gave it back to Wagner in the endzone to tie the game up at 11-11 with 28 seconds to play in the half. But, Montreal got the disc to Brissette in the red zone, who let off the buzzer-beater blade to Dubé to take the one-score lead going into halftime. 

DC tied it back up in just over a minute when Grovic punched it into Dowd on the goal line, which was the beginning of a three-hold trade between the two teams that led to Montreal holding on to the one-score advantage at 15-14 with under five minutes to play in the period. Grovic gave Dowd another look in the end zone on a 49-yard hammer huck that would’ve tied the game, but the disc slipped out of Dowd’s hands, and Giard ripped a huck of his own to Raphael Salvas to convert the break and take a 16-14 lead for the Royal. Both teams found a clean hold, then Mott and Loveranes linked up for another DC hold before Cohonner threw away Montreal’s next O-line chance, and Lightner found his fellow rookie Couper Kerns in the endzone for the game-tying score, leaving the match at 17-17 entering the final stanza.

The fourth quarter was probably the best single-quarter performance by the Breeze this season, as it saw seven Montreal O-line chances, six DC break scores, and zero Montreal scores. DC didn’t sub the O-line in on any of the points; instead, they opted to let the D-line dominate the entire period, which led to DC taking the 23-17 victory despite trailing for most of the bout. 

Coming off the dominant performances in Canada, Boxley and McCutcheon will be back, and the Breeze will be as confident as ever to take on the Carolina Flyers (5-1), who are coming off back-to-back wins against the Atlanta Hustle (3-4) that put them into second place in the South Division. The Flyers will certainly be seeking revenge for DC’s road victory over them in the early goings of last season; the Breeze own a 6-3 all-time record against their south division rivals. The first pull will fly at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday, 6/5 at Carlini Field. Tickets are available at thedcbreeze.com and streaming live at watchUFA.tv.