Fast Takes with Fast Break: North Super Series - Minneapolis
Author: Jack Levy
PC: MLQ
While Minneapolis has had a relatively relaxing travel schedule so far this season, with only one home series through the first six weeks of the summer, the Monarchs will need to take flight over the next five weeks. They have to travel to Detroit this weekend, Toronto two weeks later, and hopefully Maryland two weeks after that. The tall task starts Saturday at 2pm, where the Monarchs face the Detroit Innovators and the Cleveland Riff in the North Division’s first SuperSeries since the pandemic.
The SuperSeries is arguably the most important weekend of the season for Minneapolis. A win over Cleveland guarantees they qualify for MLQ championships, and getting their ticket to Maryland punched before August would be a huge relief. A series win over Detroit would put the Monarchs on the inside track for a two-seed in the North Division. They would just need to beat a Toronto team who the Innovators have already swept. While the Monarchs suffered a devastating loss to the Chicago Prowl, a bounce back with wins in the SuperSeries would give Minneapolis a huge boost, putting them one series away from clinching the championship bracket and avoiding the play-in bracket. The reverse is also true. A loss to Detroit would almost certainly result in Minneapolis having to fight through the play-in bracket, a devastating setback after they already did it last season. A loss to Cleveland might mean missing MLQ Championships altogether, something that has never happened for the franchise. This SuperSeries will determine whether the Monarchs have the chance to feast on the various milkweed species in Maryland, or whether they will have to start their fall migration earlier than expected.
The stakes could not be higher for Minneapolis, which is why it comes as such a shock that the team is only bringing 19 players to the SuperSeries. The Monarchs are known for traveling as a large kaleidoscope, but not being able to field a full 21-person roster for a long weekend is going to hurt their chances of success. Most of the franchise’s beater corps is intact for the vital games this weekend. Against Chicago, Minneapolis ran three pairs: Nadja Melby and Nathan Podolsky, Cody Narveson and Nicole Nelson, and Meredith McDowell and Ben Schlueter. Of the six beaters who played in the series, only Nelson is unable to make the SuperSeries. As one of three beaters who recorded stops against the Prowl, her absence from the rotations will hurt the Monarchs and raise plenty of questions on how the team will pair their beaters. Do they put Melby with Narveson, to reunite the Schlueter and Podolsky pair that Minneapolis ran last season? Do they give long-standing chaser turned USQ beater Zeke Majeske his first minutes with McDowell? We won’t find out until Saturday, but expect new duos to take the field.
Even more concerns abound from the franchise’s chaser depth. Against Prowl, only six Minneapolis chasers recorded goals across the series: Max Meier (7), Emma Persons (4), Matthew Bessard (2), Joe Goulet (2), Ben Zimet (1), and Terry Carlson (1). Of those chasers, only Goulet and Zimet are rostered for the SuperSeries and combined for 3 of the 17 goals recorded against Chicago. That leaves a 14 goal gap that Minneapolis needs to fill. More chasers will need to step up for the Monarchs to produce a reliable offense. Veterans Mike Devine, Anna Nelson, Alexander Obanor, Samantha Schwartz, Addie Sobczak, and Seth Swenson will look to make a big impact this weekend after a quiet season opener. The team will also be looking towards new rookies as their minutes will likely increase this weekend. Expect Brady Charles, Bryn Gustafson, Maya Shrestha, Phoebe Thomas, and Cecelia Voth to see an increased role during the SuperSeries. In our season preview, we detailed the importance of Minneapolis integrating new players into their system. Luckily, the team has had 12 weeks since the roster release to get their caterpillars up to speed.
If the Monarchs were able to effectively fit their rookies comfortably into their system during this time, the results will pay in spades during their games this weekend. The more they can rely on their depth against Cleveland, the more likely Minneapolis will leave this weekend undefeated. The Riff have struggled so far this season, falling in two blowouts, first to Toronto and then to Chicago. Minneapolis will look to keep that streak going. If the league has learned anything since 2021, however, it’s to not sleep on Cleveland. Last season, the Riff took a game off Detroit and lost in a nail-biter finish. Three seasons ago, the Riff shocked the league by taking a game off the then undefeated Monarchs. Two Riff chasers, Joseph Lombardi and Dominik Twarowski, both recorded more goals than any Minneapolis chaser in their Chicago series. Given the short-handed roster, Cleveland likely has its sights set on Minneapolis as their way to Maryland. If the Monarchs can rely on their depth to beat Cleveland, it would not only clinch their spot at MLQ Championships but also give them a much better shot at beating Detroit.
The budding Detroit-Minneapolis rivalry is arguably the center of the SuperSeries. It would be a mistake to think the Monarchs have dominated this matchup in the past, just because they’ve always won the series. With the exception of 2022, this series has always come down to the wire, but Minneapolis has continued to find a way to win these close games. Notably, Minneapolis won the first two games of the series last season in dramatic fashion with a pair of Henry Baer-Benson catches. With Baer-Benson not rostered this season, Minneapolis will look for Goulet and Devine to step up and play a significant role during crunch-time, especially against a strengthened Innovator seeker corps led by Neil Peterson. Minneapolis might have never dropped a series to Detroit, but this year the Innovators have geared up with new talent and a surgical offense that can only be described as a well-oiled machine. The lack of chaser depth traveling for the SuperSeries will especially hurt the Monarchs against a team of offensive threats such as Leo Fried, Nick Love, Luc Marklin, Gwen Pratt, and Lyndsey Smeyers just to name a few. Not to mention, the Innovators have already fully integrated a handful of rookies into their system almost seamlessly, with Asthon Glenn playing big minutes against Chicago and Brady Sowers recording a hat trick in their first game against Toronto. Given the depth Detroit has at chasing, Minneapolis will need to make sure they can gain a beater advantage to have a chance at winning the series. Through their first two series, Detroit has relied heavily on two pairs: Rei Brodeur and Ryan Hsu, and David Banas Jr. and Brooke Smiley. The veteran Monarch beaters will need to force the Innovator pairs to malfunction if they want to leave with two series wins on the weekend.
Prediction:
Cleveland might have their sights set on taking out a short-handed Minneapolis, but the Monarchs should win comfortably with their veteran beaters. If they can play their chaser depth against the Riff, Minneapolis will be more prepared for Detroit. Since the start of the season the league knew the close Innovator-Monarch matchup would shape the North Division. Given the large gap of offensive production missing from the Minneapolis roster and a strong start to the season from Detroit, the Monarchs will need to look like a different team than the one that played Chicago to beat the Innovators.
Minneapolis vs Cleveland: 3-0
Minneapolis vs Detroit: 0-3
