Fast Takes with Fast Break: San Antonio v League City
Author: Fiona Wisehart and Naresh Edala
The Hammer vs The Nail
While we’ve enjoyed predicting loss after loss for the San Antonio Soldados (we love a scrappy underdog), they’ve proved they have the heart and skills to take second in the South Division. As we prepare to watch the latest and last South Division showdown tonight, they're the strong favorites to continue their dominant streak outside of Austin. Their season has shown that you might take a game but you'll lose the series against the San Antonio "we've got heart" Soldados, but they're hungry for a full sweep. From their experienced first line beaters in Kristopher De La Fuente and Maya Hinebaugh to the leaders on field in Jay Stewart, Milena Sousa, David Avila, and Matthew Blackwood, this team always had a centerpiece on the field and coaches to adjust on the side in Christian Cortez and Bradley Himes. The connection between all the players shows in games and their solid month off will likely show another series of growth for the team. Legends, in the other hand, has shown that they have strong pieces, and they've played better each series, but their growth this season has not been at the level of any of their opponents and we expect they'll be watching Championships from home (or a bleacher seat in Iowa). They show strength in their willingness for high physicality, and are always willing to make a play for a loose ball on the ground. In the beater game, Carlos Elarba and Kevin Raber show a strategic key point when their on the field, choosing where and when to take exchanges, while utility Jimmie Evans understands when to exchange with a beater or pressure chaser space to force a bad pass. We're very excited to see Juan Acevedo on the active roster, who has helped coach from League City's bench during the season but was an active playmaker during his recent USQ season on Southwest Alliance. We hope to see the same energizing presence tonight, since League City will need to bring out all the stops for a dark horse run to take the series.
While these games will be closer in quaffle points than a more casual fan may suspect, San Antonio has the seeking depth and the flag-runner-on-pitch beating discipline to secure the win for any close games (in a scenario where League City can keep the score within 40 points). Over the course of the season, the Soldados have caught four flag runners, as opposed to the Legends’ single catch. At the seeker position, for Soldados, we likely see a combination of John Alvarez and Jay Stewart, since we expect they'll have a lead in goals enough for Jay to switch out of the chaser game. Expect Maya and Kris to start off the SOP minutes with an expectation of multiple shifts, since without Elarba or Raber on field at all times, Soldados will completely outmatch League City in beater play. On League City's end, Chris Dorsey and Juan Avecedo will likely put on the yellow, but losing either one (or both) in the chasing game may stagnate their ability for goals. If all beaters are on the flag runner, it'll be on Great Usaphire and Hayden Boyes to facilitate offenses- and with Soldados being a tackle heavy team, we hope ball facilitation to the off ball chasing genius of Mallory Hughes and Lisa Reisenauer.
Overall, all cards are held by Soldados in this matchup. From using all their players, especially their women (like Milena Sousa and Catherine Hay off ball in open space), they maximize coverage offensively and defensively. League City matches them in physicality on the field, but Soldados has a higher diversity of actual tacklers across all lines, creating more defensive coverage and slowing down 1v1s, even if League City can generate an advantageous matchup. During the seeker floor (game time before runner is released), League City should look for a quick beater exchange to open chaser space and then employ their alley oop passes to deny Soldados tackling opportunities. Committing to making one trade and then getting back on defense will staunch Soldados fast break opportunities. After set score is determined, Soldados lose the least in their scoring potential during SOP while still maintaining their defensive hitters, while League City (who comes into the game outnumbered by 4 players) will lose key pieces. A quick catch will likely play to their benefit, but the runner prowess of Craig Garrison may prove to doubly disadvantage League City who enters the series short staffed. If League City can't keep the number of goals relatively the same or slow the pace, they'll lose any chance of taking games. For a team that loves to run, even into protected space, scoring while the runner is on the field isn't the most important, it'll be denying Soldados' transition fast breaks. With Dorsey and/or Acevedo out, it'll be significantly harder and will rely on expert coaching and adjustments out on the field.
We would love nothing more than League City coming out and showing their full potential, a hope we've held all season with the higher recruitment of this summer's franchise roster. They'll been unable to come together though, and today they go against a team that has been able to connect their newest cohort into a MLQ contender. The Soldados team that played the Austin Outlaws on July 1 handedly defeats the League City team we saw play New Orleans Curse on July 8th. The key to this series will come down to the coaching and practice of July with no eyes on them, and while we expect another South sweep to close out this season, we think League City will be stubbornly fighting the whole way.
Prediction: San Antonio 3 - 0
