Fast Takes with Fast Break: Ottawa vs Boston

Authors: Erin McCrady & Michael Li

Ottawa is coming off a rocky start to the season after an away series against the New York Titans. With a full roster and home-field advantage, the Black Bears will be looking to show what they’re really made of this weekend.

Boston looks to premiere Nojus Ausra at beater and CJ Carter and Jordan Smiley in the quaffle game. Carter, an alum of the University of Vermont program and a longtime member of the Boston community, will likely be filling in for Ryan Pfenning who will not be making the trip up to Ottawa for this series. Carter should be able to use his length to cut off the long shots and passes that Ottawa tried against the Titans in their last series. Smiley is coming off an excellent season with the Tufts program, she proved to be an integral piece of the team's Final Four run at US Quidditch Cup and won the MQC Award for Chaser of the Year. She has consistently been able to find open space around the hoops to finish plays while also able to reliably make mid-range shots away from the hoops. Ausra is another MQC standout winning the Beater Pair of the Year award with his partner at the Boston University program Angela Song. In the college game he proved to be a versatile player, using good footwork to set up engages. It will be interesting to see where he slots into this Forge beater lineup with the absence of Max Havlin and Lulu Xu. 

In their last series, a shortened bench of Ottawa beaters seemed to struggle against high pressure and physical defense. Facing another squad known for their skilled beater line this week, the addition of Louis-Charles Dupont brings experience, physicality, and strong fundamental skills. Zoe Kuntz-Popova and Julia Lecompte will also look to make an impact in their MLQ 2022 debuts this week after missing out on the last series.

Perhaps the most obvious absence from the Boston roster is the beater pairing of Max Havlin and Lulu Xu, while the two have been absolutely dominant in their last two series Boston likely won’t be missing them too much. The Forge has a stable of high level club beaters in Steven Belitzky, Kieran Collier, Leeanne Dillmann, and Fiona Wisehart who should be able to do more than enough to hold down the fort. Dillmann and Wisehart had an especially impressive performance against Washington, absolutely dominating the snitch on pitch game, barely giving Washington any looks, and we can expect to see more of the same against this Ottawa core.

Ottawa’s chaser line is relatively unchanged from their last series. With some opportunities to build chemistry already under their belts, they’ll look to strengthen their positioning and tidy up passes to create more momentum this time around. The addition of veterans Wren Bradley and Alex Naftel to the keeper line will help to ease some pressure from Head Coach Darren Bell. This should give Bell more of an opportunity to watch from the sideline and adjust his game plan based on what Boston brings to the table. Alex Naftel is also a welcome presence in the seeking rotation alongside his sibling Emily Naftel and University of Ottawa’s Savannah Campbell. This trio could help the Black Bears catch some quick points if Boston’s Tyler Beckmann and Greg Bento are caught off-guard.

With the absence of Zach Doyle, Harry Greenhouse, Peter Lawrence, Rachel Manhardt, and Ryan Pfenning this series, Boston will undoubtedly have to mix up their quaffle lineups. We can expect to see Scura taking over the starting spot in place of Pfenning, and players like Beckmann, Chris LaBudde, or Andrew Steinberg to take on some of the off-ball load that normally falls to Doyle. Against this less physical Ottawa defense we should expect Boston’s female chasers to be more comfortable taking steps towards the hoops with the ball in their hands and create shots for themselves and their teammates. Building that kind of confidence could prove valuable going forward this season if Boston wants to stick to its same offensive schemes. 

Ultimately, while we’ll see a stronger Black Bears squad this weekend, they’re unlikely to withstand the heat Boston Forge is bringing.

Prediction: 3-0 Boston