MLR 2026 – Old Glory DC vs California Legion

Old Glory celebrates their home opener at George Mason Stadium on Sunday evening and welcomes the Legion to Fairfax. After a tough loss in Seattle to start the season, DC have scored back-to-back road wins and now look to make it three in a row against an inconsistent California outfit.

STARTING LINEUP CHANGES

	IN	OUT
11	Damien Hoyland	John Rizzo

	IN	OUT
1	Fred Apulu	Ma’ake Muti
2	Joe Taufete’e	Ale Lopeti
3	Michael Scott	Tonga Kofe
4	Keni Nasoqeqe	Jurie van Vuuren
15	Rory van Vugt	Corbin Smith

NOTES

Injured / unavailable – (Old Glory) Liam Fletcher, Jay Renton, Jason Emery; (Legion) Christian Poidevin, Ronan Murphy, Steffan Crimp
Simon Cross has retained a near-identical run-on side with Damien Hoyland’s return the only alteration… Cali Martinez returns to the match day squad as a replacement prop
Ronan Murphy is serving the second week of his suspension… with Christian Poidevin injured the Legion have again selected an extra prop on the bench in Justus Tavai
captain Jason Damm is the only tight five player who hasn’t been rotated by Steve Hoiles… there are first starts in California colors for props Fred Apulu and Michael Scott

PREDICTION

Conditions will be cooler than the Legion are used to but the weather shouldn’t have much if any impact. California have played one extra match at this stage and their legs could be a little weary on the road, and one week ahead of their bye. DC meanwhile will be fired up to be on home turf and the return of Hoyland adds spark to their attack. Old Glory are slight favorites at home in Fairfax.

TEAMS

OLD GLORY DC
1 Bart Vermeulen, 2 Kirby Myhill, 3 Paul Mullen, 4 Rob Harley (capt.), 5 Rick Rose, 6 Cory Daniel, 7 Aidan King, 8 Benjamín Bonasso, 9 John LeFevre, 10 Jason Robertson, 11 Damien Hoyland, 12 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 13 Ross Depperschmidt, 14 Perry Humphreys, 15 Max Schumacher

Replacements: 16 Connor Robinson, 17 Cali Martinez, 18 Connor Devos, 19 Tevita Naqali, 20 Collin Grosse, 21 Aidan Ridgway, 22 John Powers, 23 John Rizzo

CALIFORNIA LEGION
1 Fred Apulu, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Michael Scott, 4 Keni Nasoqeqe, 5 Jason Damm (capt.), 6 Lance Williams, 7 Ed Timpson, 8 Ben Houston, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Coby Miln, 11 Oscar Treacy, 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Cassh Maluia, 14 Joe Mano, 15 Rory van Vugt

Replacements: 16 Ale Lopeti, 17 Ma’ake Muti, 18 Tonga Kofe, 19 Chase Jones, 20 Justus Tavai, 21 Tas Smith, 22 Corbin Smith, 23 Ryan James

MATCH INFO

Date: Sunday, April 26
Venue: George Mason Stadium, Fairfax
Kickoff: 19:00 local (16:00 Pacific)
Weather Forecast: cloudy, 57°F (14°C), wind NE 7-10 mph (11-17 km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+ (USA), Premier Sports (International), GameTV (YouTube), Monumental Sports (Local)