Fast Takes with Fast Break: New York vs Ottawa
Authors: Erin McCrady & Ben Mertens
PC: Major League Quidditch
The Ottawa Black Bears have emerged from hibernation and they’re in for a rude awakening in their first series since 2019. Past seasons of MLQ have already told this story – the Titans boast a 15-0 record against the Black Bears dating back to 2015 – and with a short bench full of fresh talent, Ottawa will be hard-pressed to write a new chapter this weekend.
New York, fresh off of a 2-1 series win over Washington to start the season, will be looking to build on their early momentum and keep pace in the race for the division title with Boston. New York will have to work with a slightly different roster than they brought in their first series - notably Leo Fried and Molly Potter, who were both major contributors in the quaffle game in the season opener are absent this weekend. Most troublingly, New York is without Rachel Ayella-Silver, who missed the second half of the Washington series with injury.
New York will, however, have Jason Rosenberg and Phill Cain, two longtime stalwarts at beater who were not rostered against Washington. While there’s no replacing Ayella-Silver, Rosenberg and Cain will help supplement an already strong rotation that features Kellan Cupid, Kerri Donnelly, Devin Lee, and Tessa Mullins, who were all excellent in New York’s previous matchup. New York’s beaters dominated the pitch against Washington, and they should do so again this weekend.
Despite Ottawa’s historic challenges in the East Division, the team has always had a reliable beating core. In 2018, the Black Bears clawed their way to their most successful season on record largely on the strength of Martin “Shaggy” Chiasson, Rachel Fabbri, Heather Nakanishi, and Raphael Roy-Laurore. With all four departing during the pandemic it’s an open question as to who can fill this space, but MLQ newcomers Meg Howden and Alexander Rivoche will likely see some big minutes in this series.
Even without Fried and Potter, New York should have more than enough quaffle talent to carry the day. Program stars Jon Jackson, Mike Li, and Lindsay Marella are all available, and New York can also give more run to rising talents like Annika Kim and Byron Ng. Players who excelled in smaller roles like Zachary Armantrading and Janko Gvozdenovic should also have a chance to step into bigger roles against Ottawa.
It’s difficult to know exactly what to expect from the Black Bears’ quaffle game this series: many of their more experienced players are listed as utility this season, despite long careers as primarily single-position athletes. This suggests that Ottawa plans to rely heavily on its more seasoned talent, but creates the risk of spreading too thin, particularly over the course of a series against a team with as deep a bench as the Titans. Particularly in a more patient pace of play than many of their players are used to – Quidditch Canada has done away with resets – the Black Bears are sure to miss Sean Barios’ experienced ball handling and Hailey Yhap’s confident presence on the wing if the two are splitting their time with the beater rotation. With Yhap pulling double duty and John Nicholson and Gabriel Ferreira missing from the weekend’s roster, Ottawa also won’t be able to rely on the chemistry of its Queens University core to produce on offense.
New York showed an excellent, versatile defense against Washington, and they should be similarly effective at keeping a young Ottawa team off-balance and out of rhythm, which will power their transition attack. Even in a series where they are heavily favored, New York should look to continue to improve on their half-court offense, as well as give a test run to any additional defensive looks they may want to break out later in the season.
Prediction: New York 3-0
