Fast Takes with Fast Break: Chicago v Minneapolis
Authors: Jack Levy & Sam Nielsen
PC: MLQ
At 6pm CT on Saturday, all eyes will turn to Minneapolis as the Prowl make their way up to the Twin Cities to take on the Monarchs. For the past three seasons, the Minneapolis-Chicago matchup has been the intense battle that has determined the winner of the North Division. With the North Division champions earning a wild card matchup at MLQ Championships for the first time, there is more on the line this season than ever before. Can the clowder of cats claw their way to victory or will the kaleidoscope of butterflies be able to reclaim their throne? Tune in to find out who will come out on top in the next chapter of this storied rivalry.
The Monarchs-Prowl series has been back and forth over time. When the teams first met in Indianapolis in 2019, Chicago took the series 3-0. In 2021, Minneapolis shocked the quadball world, by sweeping the series on the road. Despite facing questions about a weakened Monarch roster the following year, Minneapolis defended the throne at home and took down the favorites without dropping a game. Last summer, Chicago responded with more than a rebrand. The newly located team took down the two-time defending North Division title-holders, winning all three games at home in a statement series. If you’ve been keeping track, that means the two teams each have six wins and six losses of all time in the series. It also means that Chicago is yet to win in Minneapolis, and the teams have never had a split series. While the defending runner-ups were heavily favored to win on the road coming into the season, Week 1 of the MLQ season left the division with a lot of question-marks.
Prowl’s Early Season Loss
Chicago opened their season ready to defend their North Division title. They faced adversity in their season opener however, in underwhelming fashion: dropping a game in the pouring rain to Detroit Innovators for the first time since 2019. Despite playing at home, Prowl brought an incomplete roster and never felt fully in control against the Innovators, a stark contrast with last year, where Prowl fans never felt like there was any real chance they would lose a game.
This year, the rainy weather clearly played a part in the close games, as both teams had plenty of missed tackles and dropped passes in the slippery conditions. Chicago in particular was left several times with players staring at their hands after slipping up on a catch-and-finish at an outside hoop. The sure hands and reliable finishing of Ally Manzella would have been a big help on this series, but she was not in attendance, along with other Prowl stalwarts Ryley Andrews, Darian Murcek-Ellis, and new addition Dara Gueman. The rain combined with Detroit’s long armed defense also disrupted Chicago's typical ball movement, which the Innovators were happy to take advantage of.
On the positive end for Chicago, the return (to playing) of coaches Kennedy Murphy and Tad Walters looked excellent. Murphy provided some much-needed coordination in the quadball game and solid defense, while Walters was able to pair with Nojus Ausra to form, by far, Chicago's best beater pair. The two of them had a combined plus/minus of +26, more than 20 goals better than any beater pair in the series. Nathan Digmann also played excellently, especially on defense, where he made several goal-saving tackles around the hoops.
Chicago's biggest issues against Detroit came during SOP (seeker on pitch) minutes. Chicago's chaser play left much to be desired and showed a real struggle to score in no-dodgeball situations. Given the weather conditions, roster situation, and the Prowl’s ability to return the favor and limit the Innovators open-field scoring, the bigger concern moving forward is the 0-3 record in the seeking game. Chicago played SOP differently in all three games: in game one, they used Ausra and Walters to clear time on the flag, but couldn’t get the catch; in game two, they put in Ausra, probably their best seeker, but gave up too much in the beating game for it; in game three, they pulled the beating away from the seekers, daring Detroit to keep pace while Innovators beaters were more split in the decision making. While the game three approach was the most successful, Detroit caught the flag in all three games. Against other opponents, Prowl will need to go back to the drawing board for a new SOP strategy- they haven’t shown a level of domination where a 35 point swing won’t matter to Murphy and her coaching staff.
A New Minneapolis
While questions lurk about Prowl after Innovators was able to take a game off them, nobody knows what to expect from the Minneapolis Monarchs in their season opener. The Monarchs are coming off a historic postseason run, being the first North Division team to win the wild card bracket. Many people might initially point to the Monarch’s big losses from last season’s roster, claiming they can’t continue their momentum, such as Cole Lachmiller and Gracie Johnson. Minneapolis has proven judging off season turnover is a mistake before. When the Monarchs received similar criticism after losing big pieces from their 2021 divisional championship roster, they returned in 2022 to take the title again.
That being said, this is the first year Minneapolis has to bounce back to such a high degree. The Monarchs are migrating home for summer without a divisional title, something that hasn’t happened since 2019. A challenge for the Monarchs is that their 2024 opener is against their divisional rival, and their most formidable opponent, Chicago Prowl. The franchise is also getting a new influx of young talent, who will need to step up in a debut against their toughest opponent of the season. It is no easy task to ask rookie players to go against the Prowl in their first series. Time, however, is on the Monarch’s side. They’ve had an extra four weeks before their first match of the season, giving them time to integrate their new players with their returning talent.
The Monarchs also have stars ready to take flight. Coming off a long injury, US National Team chaser Emma Persons is ready to take the field after missing the 2023 season. Persons was a vital piece during the Monarchs’ 2021 and 2022 wins against Chicago, so her return is crucial for the Monarchs’ success. She also handled in game adjustments and coaching while injured all of last season, leading the Monarchs to their upset of Boston Forge last August. The franchise also added Nadja Melby, who just won a national championship with Boom Train during the USQ season. Expect Melby to play a lot of minutes in this pivotal series. The Monarchs are also returning Nicole Nelson, another star player that was a big part of the 2021 and 2022 championship runs. Outside of the beater game, Monarchs boasts a seeker-edge with dependable Joe Goulet, who caught during the series last summer, and Mike Devine, who has hit skies soaring with a hot-streak of MLQ flag catches during championships in Iowa last championship. Given Chicago is 0-3 on flag runner catches this season, expect Minneapolis to look to capitalize during SOP, maintaining beater dominance as much as possible to limit the chance of any Monarch catch. The masses might think Chicago has this series in the bag, given their success from last season and some key losses from the Minneapolis roster. However, the Monarchs shouldn’t be slept on given their key additions/returns and the struggle Prowl has had in the seeker game.
The Impact Throughout the League
In years past, this series only directly affected the two teams playing each other, but what makes this matchup unique this season is what is at stake for the North Division and MLQ Championships. Since Chicago dropped a game to Detroit in the first series of the season, the Toronto Raiders are the only undefeated team yet tested in the division. The Raiders are coming off a lopsided win against the Cleveland Riff. If Chicago were to win the matchup, the Toronto-Chicago series will likely determine the winner of the division. If Minneapolis is able to reclaim the throne against Chicago this weekend, the Monarch-Riff-Innovator superseries will skyrocket in importance. The team that emerges victorious from that superseries must also beat the Raiders to secure the title, limiting Cleveland’s chances at a Benepe Cup qualification. Unlike the previous intense matchups between these two teams, the whole division will be greatly affected by the result. Expect all North Division teams to be glued to MLQ’s stream this weekend, taking notes on future opponents.
This season also marks the first time a North Division one-seed gets a wild card matchup at MLQ Championships this year. It was Chicago’s finals run and Minneapolis’ wild card bracket run that contributed to the better placement at this year’s championship. Both teams want nothing more than to get that coveted higher seed. While the Monarchs contributed to the better placement, it was Chicago’s finals run that created the opportunity. Minneapolis would like nothing more but to reap the rewards of the Prowl’s success last season.
Prediction
Chicago is bringing a full roster in their trip north, notably with the additions of chasers Ally Manzella, Ryley Andrews, Benjamin Peachy, and Darian Murcek-Ellis, all of whom were key players on the Prowl’s 2023 roster. Chicago’s chasers and keepers should bounce back hard from a lackluster performance against Detroit, and have a real advantage against Minneapolis, something that hasn’t been the norm in this series. On the beating side, Chicago brings their top 5 players by drives played from the Detroit series, but with a few other changes leaves us uncertain who will find the primary rotational minutes alongside Ausra and Walters.
Minneapolis’s debut roster leaves no surprises. The Monarchs roster is loaded with the returners we expected for this season. The team is bringing key chasers from the series last year and will have strong beater depth. Expect the Monarchs to tap into this depth with three pairs of beaters that all play a similar number of drives. For Minneapolis to succeed, they will need to maximize their efficiency in beater minutes and capitalize on their seeker advantage. Minneapolis’s success, both at MLQ Championships and in this matchup, has come from SOP. Maximizing speed in the chaser game, and a catch from their seeker greats will be the tall order to clinch the series.
While Chicago brings a strong chasing advantage to the series, Minneapolis should have the beating and seeking edge. We expect the results to go the way of Prowl, though to truly dominate for a sweep, their chasers must completely take over or a star will need to rise in their beater depth. Nevertheless, we’re excited to see who’s reigning supreme at the end of the weekend.
Chicago 2 - 1
1* At MLQ Championships, two of the three division winners will play a team that comes out of the wild-card bracket. Every team in the wild-card bracket finished no better than third in their division. The other division winner will have to play a team that finished second in their division. This is the first year that the North division winner will get to play a wild-card team instead of a team that finished second in their division. For more information on this process; click here.
