Old Glory DC hit the road this week to face a dangerous NOLA Gold side in New Orleans. With both teams firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt, the stakes were high—and the pressure even higher. To make matters more challenging, OGDC was without their talisman, Jason Robertson, sidelined with an injury sustained last weekend. Could Old Glory notch back-to-back wins for the first time this season?
The match got off to a rocky start. NOLA struck within the opening three minutes, and things worsened when OGDC was shown an early yellow card. NOLA capitalized again with a converted try, jumping out to a 14-0 lead inside the first ten minutes.
But Old Glory refused to back down.
Collin Grosse powered over the line to put DC on the board, and just minutes later, Facundo Gattas followed up with another try. Jason Emery slotted one of the conversions, pulling the score to 14-12—suddenly, it was a game. Unfortunately for OGDC, that would be as close as they’d get.
The rest of the first half was a seesaw battle, with both sides trading momentum, but NOLA seized control late—slotting a penalty in the 38th minute and adding a try just before the break to take a 24-12 lead into halftime.
NOLA kept their foot on the gas in the second half, scoring another try shortly after the restart. OGDC kept fighting, narrowing the gap to 31-24 in the 56th minute, but couldn’t sustain momentum. NOLA responded with another burst of points and applied relentless pressure in the final 12 minutes to close out the 51-29 win.
Despite the loss, Old Glory walked away with a hard-earned bonus point, thanks to five tries on the day. Grosse and Gattas each dotted down twice, while John Rizzo added a powerful solo effort, crashing over the line for one of OGDC’s tries.
Now sitting at 4-4 and slipping to third place in the East, Old Glory will look to rebound next week at home. They host the Miami Sharks in a Week 1 rematch—an instant classic that OGDC won at the death. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. ET next Saturday, April 19th at the Maryland SoccerPlex. Come out and cheer on Old Glory DC!
