Fast Takes with FastBreak: Forge at Black Bears

It’s the last weekend of MLQ’s regular season, and while most teams are looking to Champs, the season has not wrapped up yet and there are still games to play.

Three of those will be played by the Boston Forge and the Ottawa Black Bears: two teams who have had very different seasons. The Forge is a team that defines the league, sitting pretty with a ticket to Champs at second-place in the East Division. The Black Bears are a young team on the MLQ stage, working to make a name for themselves, and while this series can’t help their position as last in the East Division, it might be able to help them get out of being last in the league.

Different positions means that these two teams have very different goals heading into this weekend. Ottawa is looking to make a name for themselves this series, get their players experience against some of the best Quadballers in the league, and avoid a last-place spot in the league. Boston is looking to fine tune their strategy and improve their skills in the final sprint before Champs, as well as get some of their newer players some experience while they still can.

Boston is the favorite heading into this series, which means they’re in a good position to play their depth. Their last series, against the Washington Admirals, was a similar opportunity, so those with their eyes on Boston’s depth should expect to see more this weekend.

One such player is Samantha Magner of MLQ’s vlog series, Shots by Sam. Against Washington, Magner put up two goals, one assist, and two stops, which is made even more impressive with her lack of turnovers. Magner is rostered for Ottawa, and those planning to watch the series this weekend should expect to see her make a return.

Another player to keep an eye on is Sena Morimoto. Prior to last weekend, the keeper from the Warriors hadn’t made his Forge debut, a surprise after an impressive performance on the Kansas City Stampede in 2022. That changed against the Admirals, putting up 10 assists, two goals, four stops and only four turnovers.

Luiza Nicolae of the USQ National Champions, Harvard University, also made their Boston debut against Washington, with an assist, a stop, and three turnovers. Nicolae will be in Ottawa this weekend, which should mean an opportunity to make more of an impression on the Forge’s season. Eli Fighter is rostered for the first time this season, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of impact he makes this close to Champs.

For Ottawa, this series has a very different focus. They currently sit as second-to-last in the league, just above the Cleveland Riff, in Fast Break News’ Power Rankings. However, the rankings haven’t taken the Riff’s shockingly good performance against the Minneapolis Monarchs at the North Super Series into account. This means that, if the Black Bears want to hold their No. 14 spot, then they have to show up and show out against the Boston Forge.

If Ottawa wants to avoid last place in the league, their beating core is going to have to pick up this young team on their backs and carry them through each offense. The Ottawa beaters who have played the most drives this season are Alexander Rivoche, Zach Reiken and Emily Naftel. While none of them have impressive plus/minus, Naftel has six stops, Reiken has seven and Rivoche has 11. The wild card this weekend in Ottawa’s beating core is Sean Bairos. We have not seen a lot of Sean this season, however, Sean is the best beater on their roster, so having him for the home series is going to be huge for this matchup. While it’s hard to compare to one of the best beater cores in the league, Ottawa’s beaters are going to have to try. Forge is bringing their top-line beaters, including Max Havlin, Lulu Xu, Kieran Collier, Leeanne Dillman, and especially Erin McCrady, who has played on Team Canada and is familiar with common Canadian tactics. But even though Boston isn’t bringing any new beaters, they are bringing rookies on the Quadball side of the game. What Ottawa needs to stay out of last in the league is a couple of close moments against the Forge, which is certainly possible if their beaters can take advantage of Boston’s rookie chaser line.

While there are not many things that are happening in Ottawa’s favor this weekend, one thing that is is the location. This weekend’s series is in Ottawa, which means that they’re adding three players to the 13-person roster that’s become their standard this season. But if they were banking on Forge missing a few players, they’re out of luck: Boston is 21-players strong. But that doesn’t mean that traveling across the Canadian border isn’t going to make those 21 players tired.

So while Ottawa doesn’t have the best chances coming into this weekend, that doesn’t mean that this isn’t a series worth watching. All eyes are on Boston; what they’re bringing to the table before Champs, and how well they’ll be able to perform. And Ottawa is a team with everything to prove, and almost nothing to lose.

Prediction: 3-0 Boston Forge