Fast Takes with Fast Break: Toronto v Rochester

Authors: Jack Moseley, Scott Rousseau, Caleb Van Buren,

PC: Major League Quadball

The Rochester Whiteout are shipping up to Toronto for their first series of the season to take on the Raiders. The Raiders are coming off of a convincing series sweep over the Cleveland Riff, and are looking to repeat their success again this weekend while a new look Whiteout are looking to cement that, even with big roster turnover, nothing has changed and they’re still to be feared as a dominant force in the North. A series win for Toronto secures them the top seed in the conference and a chance to play for their first North Division title. A series win for Rochester leaves the first seed up in the air to be decided in the future when the Whiteout go up against Cleveland.

History of the Matchup

The Raiders are facing off against the Whiteout for only the second time ever and are looking for revenge after last season. The Whiteout swept the Raiders and sent them scurrying home with their tails between their legs. But will the Whiteout prove they’re still as dominant as ever? Or will the Raiders be able to even the score in the Lake Ontario Derby?

Roster for the Weekend

Michael Howard is back behind the bench for the Raiders to marshal the troops, and not a moment too soon. Down in Cleveland, Cory Smithson and Stevie Vindua helped assistant coaches Bryan Melchior and Savannah Campbell, which certainly was successful and speaks to the importance of veteran leadership on this team. But having their Head Coach back will certainly alleviate pressure off of those four. The importance of the series will almost certainly weigh on the team, so they’ll want their players fully focused on playing their game and Howard’s return gives the team a central voice to rally behind. 

Contrary to their opponents, Rochester comes into this matchup shorthanded with only 19 players making the trip up North.The biggest omission from this roster is veteran keeper Cody Keefer, who’s physicality on both sides of the ball will be missed. Rochester will need to see production from their first and second year players to have a chance to keep games close and play spoiler for any of Toronto’s Canada Day plans. 

Notable changes for Toronto from Cleveland are the reintroduction of Andrew Kusters, Michael Wanless, and Sinan Keyder to the lineup. More than anything, expect these players to put up huge minutes and numbers for the team. Adding more playmakers to the line-up will certainly improve Toronto’s offensive capabilities, which was slow to pick-up against the Riff, making the first couple of games much closer than they would have liked. The Raiders should get on the board more frequently early on with these three as likely culprits. Otherwise, a largely untouched chaser line-up looks good for the team, where line chemistry is already developed and they know how to play with each other from the Cleveland series. The biggest question is who, if any, of the beaters who filled in as quadball players down in Cleveland will remain as chasers. Devin Dutt, Smithson, and Derek Taylor were integral in the quadball game against the Riff, but will the coaching staff still feel that they’re needed there, or will they be retooled back to the beater game?

Speaking of the beater game, the Raiders haven’t switched out any of their listed beaters from Cleveland, and for good reason. Their beaters feasted when they were down south. Piotr Makuch especially, who entered his villain era and received high praise from coach Howie on MLQ Replay, stating that when he’s in form, Makuch can be the best beater in Canada. The Raiders will need Makuch—and the entirety of their beater corps for that matter—to be at peak performance once again to control the pace of the series and set their quadball players up for success. The return of veteran Zac Macdonald and the skyrocketing development of rookie Grace Davey further bolsters Toronto’s beater corps, to make this a terrifying force to go up against, where no pair should be taken lightly. 

Rochester is only bringing five true beaters up North, though all of them seasoned beaters. The lead pair of Pat Callanan and Ashley Dolan has the experience and the talent to take it to Toronto. Though that may not be in their best interest with a lack of subs, when Rochester has dodgeball control they will be looking to park the bus and slow the game down. Josh Tombline played lights out against Toronto, his ability to play long shifts and control the pitch will be tested this season. Partnered with their former U of R partner Madeleine Fordham the pair can be a tough match up. Rochester will welcome the return of Josh Kramer after a several year hiatus and it will be interesting to see how fast he can shake the rust off in a series where he will see big minutes regardless of how he looks in his return. Rochester does have some utility capable players they can pull out of the quadball game in a “break glass in case of emergency” situation. 

Expected Playstyle

Offensively the Raiders will still see the majority of their offense generated from their star ball carriers. Nearly half of their goals were unassisted down in Cleveland, generated from first-look drives or shots. Last year, this pattern struggled against a high-press from Rochester, and the Raiders probably remember that well. This year you can expect them to test the waters to see what they can get away with, be it seeing who they can run past or drive through to just put it in themselves. If these methods seem to be struggling, you’ll see the Raiders adapt to a far more patient offense, with the quadball getting into the hands of more players per offense and more off-ball movement to generate more goals and break apart the Whiteout defense. 

Rochester’s offensive strategy will likely be to play at a slower tempo then we saw last season due to Rochester’s lack of depth and amount of roster turnover. The big question is where will this Rochester offense create all the goals they lost in the off season? Kit Powpour had a breakout chaser season, becoming a dangerous off-ball and behind the hoops threat with Basem Ashkar feeding him all of last year. If Powpour and Mitchell Vargas can recreate something close to the connection Powpour and Ashkar had last season, Rochester will have a good base to build off. Without Ashkar, Keefer, or Solllie Gominiak on the roster, the Whiteout are badly in need of ball handlers. Vargas, Alyssa Giarrosso, and JD Hopton are the most likely candidates to step into these roles with players like Ben Stonish and Joe Glichowski filling out the wings making cuts to hoops. The make or break for this team will be how much offense can they get out of their exciting young players. Zach Sobel-Pressman showed flashes last year of being ready to make a leap to the next level. His speed will be dangerous in any fast break situations Rochester can create, as well as in creating separation between him and defenders. All eyes should also be on the RPI teammates Ad Ojo (African Nations Quadball) and Viviana Estrada (Team Mexico). Ojo’s combination of shot-blocking and mid-range shooting paired with Estradas’s tenacity on defense and ability to drive will make the two a dangerous duo. If Rochesters offense can score enough points to keep them within a catch of Toronto, a blizzard may just happen in July.

Defensively, the Raiders found success once again with their two-two zone, defaulting to it on the majority of their defenses. Two-two is clearly the defense they’re most comfortable in, allowing them to keep the scoring threats to the outside and giving their beaters a controlled area to work with, which may prove key to defeating Rochester. Still, if Rochester starts to break through Toronto’s two-two, we’ll finally get to see the adaptability of this team and how they fare in the other more traditional defenses. The Raiders have the athleticism to make a mark defense work for them, and have plenty of height to run a three-hoop defense protected by their elite beater corps. We’ll have to wait and see how these defenses fare, but we might not get to see those if the two-two zone defense continues to pay dividends. I’m sure the Raiders would be more than happy with the latter.

Last season in this meeting, Rochester deployed a high pressing zone defense that gave the Raiders fits. This would work well with the new no-reset rule, but with limited numbers and a lack of physical hoop defenders on the roster, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them play a more conservative two-two or even three-hoop zone. While Rochester would almost certainly love to have a series under their belt going into this matchup, they do benefit from getting to trot out a defensive scheme that Toronto hasn’t had a chance to prepare for. Still expect Rochester, regardless of what defense they play, to bring physicality on defense they have become known for.  Rochester will have to look to slow the pace of play down and force Toronto into making mistakes in the half court. The chasers and beaters will have to communicate extremely well when they want to force presses and turnovers with the short roster they have. Every stop this team makes will be important because a close game favors Rochester’s biggest strength, their seeking game.  

One of the biggest question marks on defense with Cody Keefer missing is who will be playing on hoops? The most obvious choice is Ashley Wilson who logged minutes at keeper last season for Whiteout. Her wing span gives her great shot blocking abilities and pairing her with more physical chasers such as Hopton, Stonish, or Vargas could provide a balanced defensive base to build upon. Another option is Ojo putting on the green headband. He definitely has the physicality and size of former Rochester keepers and a chance for him to grow into a role he may have to fill at RPI next season. Maybe we will see some small ball line-up from Rochester, with a line that focuses on disrupting passes and pressing Toronto rather than sitting back and defending the hoops. This will depend on how much gas their beaters have in the tank as the series goes on. We will be watching with a keen eye to see how Rochester addresses this hole.

Players to Watch

The Raiders have two returning veterans to watch this series. The first is Zac MacDonald, another long lost face from the 2019 iteration of the Raiders. While Macdonald was part of the 2022 franchise 30-player roster, he didn’t quite make it out to a series. In the time between seasons, he’s spent time with the Olympians in England, improving his game even further across the pond. This year he intends to make up for his absence. A catalyst for his team wherever he goes, expect MacDonald to be at the center of every play while he's on pitch to give his team the advantage and tie up the opposing beaters. 

Second is Michael Wanless, who missed most of last season with a concussion. In the one full series they did play (Ottawa Black Bears), they dominated the field and were a commanding voice for their line. Expect them to return and do the same. Wanless, more than anything, is an incredibly versatile player and can step into any role that the team may need them in. It wouldn’t be out of the question to see them bouncing back and forth, and excelling in both the white and green headbands this weekend. Rochester should have a tough time shutting them down and getting past them.

Mitchell Vargas - Is the most explosive offensive player on Rochester’s roster and without Cody Keefer he may be the most physical player as well. Vargas has the ability to get to the hoop at will with his shiftiness, but can also be the playmaker this team is missing with the loss of Basem Ashkar. If he can be a Midfield Maestro and pull the strings for his teammates, Rochester may be able to steal a game.

X-Factor 

Seeking:

If Rochester can keep even one of these games within flag catch range they have the chance to play spoiler. The only position that Rochester can definitively claim advantage is their deep seeking lineup. Toronto's Cory Smithson is a highly underrated seeker, with two catches when the two teams met last year, and the sole catch in Toronto’s matchup versus Cleveland. Behind him, however,  Toronto's seeker depth is a bit shakier (Campbell and Matthew Bunn are well known in Canada, but have yet to find the same success in the MLQ). Rochester rosters both veteran seekers in Powpour and Dolan as well as up-and-comers Ojo and Estrada. Ojo, who had several catches at USQ Cup 23 including a clutch grab in the sweet 16, is the biggest name to watch out for behind Powpour as his length gives Rochester something they haven’t had in the past. Toronto has to keep these games out range if they don’t want to drop a game. That said, Rochester’s depth is an issue and extended flag periods could really expose that. Toronto was very early to defensive seek in their opener versus Cleveland, if they choose to decide the game with quadball points and are able to prevent a quick Rochester catch, they could potentially pull away with ease. This particular aspect of the game has major boom or bust potential for Rochester and we’re excited to see how it plays out.

Depth:

While Toronto’s veteran talent will certainly have the attention of the audience and the most time on field, their young stars have proven time and time again that they can not only keep up in the MLQ, but be integral parts to their team’s success. Having a full 21 players, each with different specialties, that the Raiders can comfortably turn to at any point will make it difficult for Rochester to pick favorable matchups for themselves. This depth will also keep the Raiders fresh, and with the weather looking especially hot this weekend the importance of being able to take a break cannot be understated. This series will be a marathon, and one that the Raiders are well equipped for.

Prediction: TOR 3-0 ROC