Fast Takes with Fast Break: San Antonio vs New Orleans
PC: Major League Quidditch
As much as we talk about elite talent, and for someone who has even been recognized as a Team USA player, I still don’t think Daniel Williams gets the limelight that he deserves. His ability to dominate was first seen at UTSA and then again when he played for Texas Hill Country Heat. That ability to dominate can be said for many on this Soldados team. This team adds the talent of the Katherine Hayworth/Baldemar Nunez beater pair that is widely underrated, as well as picking up national champion Eric Reyes. Miguel Esparza is in contention for the best quaffle player in the game and there aren't many teams that have players that can match the impact that he has on the field.
Esparza’s absence was felt at MLQ Championships last August. It’s not often that a team that goes to the semi-finals back-to-back years can be seen as disappointing, but after a dominant run last summer and expectations sky high, the Soldados struggled to consistently run an efficient offense. Much of their scores came from quick transitions and athleticism— but this only worked until they played a team that could match their athleticism. The addition of Christian Cortez should help in this regard as he has experience running a high powered half-court offense as seen with the UTSA program, but with him not being rostered it will be a great oppurtunity to develop that second ball carrier after Esparza.
However, that being said— I think the X-Factor for this team this weekend will be their seeker depth. With 7 different seekers rostered for this weekend, including David Avila,Kristopher De La Fuente, Catherine Hay, Maya Hinebaugh, Jay Stewart, Eric Reyes, and Daniel Williams, means they will always have fresh seekers for every matchup. It will be a lot of fun seeing the different lines that this Soldados team can run because of the flexibility on their roster.
With 26 players on their roster this year, this is the deepest Curse team we’ve seen in a while. Curse will come into this weekend with a high amount of chemistry and a lot more practice on the books than Soldados. Soldados will have to incorporate multiple teams’ playstyles, while the vast majority of Curse players have had the luxury of playing together the entire USQ season. This should allow for more cohesion in the early games. However, with only 16 people on roster, it’ll have to been seen if they will be able to keep up with San Antonio’s speed for three games in a row with minimal breaks. Bryan Cascio’s roster management and leaning on Sarah Kneiling & Joshua Mansfield to take on more minutes (Curse only have two other beaters listed on their roster for this weekend) will be key in making this series competitive.
With the additions of the young UTSA/Texas St talent and the return of Team USA stars, I think the Soldados are firmly entrenched as one of the top teams in the South division. For Curse, will they have the beater depth outside of the top pair to keep up with Soldados? With San Antonio having the luxury of depth- will that prove to be too much for Curse, who are only bringing 16 people this weekend, to keep things competitive in a three game series? This is going to be a tough opening weekend matchup for Curse and while they’ll be able to provide minutes to a lot of their players, I predict it won't be enough to beat this Soldados squad that is eyeing a championship run.
Prediction: 3-0
