USQ Cup: Club Open Division Guide
By: Kielan Donahue, Qalil Ismail, & David Banas
Red Pandas
In their third year, Boston Red Pandas continue to bring their energy to every game- and even if they don’t win many, the numbers are always closer than expected. Practicing jointly with the Boston Pandas every week has helped them get lots of play time against a strong opponent, and lets the teams readjust when injury or want means players should switch teams.
This season the Red Pandas have taken another step forward toward their own competitive identity. Instead of simply a practice squad of Boston Forge Pandas, the Red Pandas have become a cohesive unit with their playstyle and strategy. Under the leadership of Jose Cabrera, Matthew Johnson, and Claire Tylke, Red Pandas has formulated strategies based on the strength of their players- from the driving ability of Cabrera or former UMass player Ben Boncaldo, the facilitation of the ball by chasers such as Claire Olmstead and Peter Benson, the engage beating of Johnson or former UVM Richie Abbot, or the pace setting beating of Vidisha Jha (former Brandeis) and Tylke herself. So much of this core represents how the Massachusetts Quadball Conference teams have created a sustainable college to club pipeline, boosting 3 full club teams and the emergence of a 4th (shoutout New England Jinx). While their sister team Boston Pandas will be fighting in the championship division, Red Pandas will work to show their development on the open side, notably mirroring their counterparts battle in their match against Second Stars (Boston Pandas plays Lost Boys as Red Pandas plays Second Stars).
Watching this team will remind you what it looks like when a team fights for each other, and Red Pandas will make you want to root for each individual victory on the field as their bench cheers for their teammates and fights for each win.
Skyline
Skyline’s standings were largely inflated by fall results at the Boston Qualifier, largely based on players who made their return (or evolution) to Warriors (Christian Barnes, Isaac Serna, Jacob Ehrlich, Taylor Crawford). With their roster depleted from call ups to the big leagues, Skyline’s only other official games were a nigh canceled New Jersey tournament (where they played one game against Boston Red Pandas) and a one game event against their A team (The Warriors) in another frigid competition.
Without much ability to investigate on this team, open division could be an open field for their members. With consistent pieces RPI alumni Nick Malzone, Macaulay alumni Amanda Bernstein, Michigan alumni Jack Levy, and Drexel alumni Chris Balasa, an offense that’ll always shoot or drive always presents itself. The largest question is always going to be “who is going to show up” and all other open division leadership will be grabbing a pen and paper once the rosters lock to strategize for the weekend. Will Skyline’s Rochester contingent return, giving them the talents of Whiteout’s Brady Grow, Mitch Brown, Erin Parkinson, and Cody Keefer? Maybe other Warriors teammates will show up to boost the program? We may not see the Cinderella run of USQ Cup 2022 in Utah, but Skyline’s mystery will only be answered onsite this Saturday.
Utah Venom
Incredibly scrappy team, with great leadership. Typically suffers from a lack of players, but a combined merc team should create opportunities for their teamwork and on field leadership to shine.
Kindest team in the league, without question. Incredibly good competitors when it comes to handling themselves on field. Definitely a team to watch if you’re hoping to enjoy some good clean fun.
Good potential in several players- that isn’t fully realized due to the constraints of their team size & location.
Players to watch for :
Mikey Powell, Hannah Winslow, Josiah Jonson, and Danika Liou
Brew Cities Quadball Club
In a sport where team names and logos are often rebranded despite containing 80% of the same players, it is refreshing to see a club team come back from beyond the grave in the form of Brew Cities Quadball Club. While certainly not the Brew Cities of years past led by KT (née Quasarano) and Christian Van Scoy, this iteration of the team is as refreshing as their new black and white cow print uniforms if for no other reason than breaking the classic triumvirate of MW club teams that is Boom Train, Chicago United, and Twin Cities Quadball Club.
Partly based on cuts from each of the aforementioned teams and largely based on former University of Michigan Head Captain Zeke Majeske’s sheer will to bring club quadball back to Wisconsin, this team is a mish mash of different playstyles and organizations.
Brew Cities biggest weakness is one natural to many first year teams- finding a cohesive style of play and chemistry. At times, the team plays like six individual players playing different sports instead of six players united in one effort and that largely can be traced to the various playstyles that Brew Cities players bring with them. For example, Zeke Majeske and Seth Swenson from the TCQC/Minneapolis Monarchs program, Ali Markus and Marc Widerman formerly of Chicago United, Spencer Reisig from Q.C. Pitt, Sage Kowaletti from Ohio Glory and Blue Mountain (and Ohio State for all you old timers), Sam Rudini and Rene Ramirez from pre-pandemic University of Michigan, Harsh Ajwani from Purdue, and more as you go down the roster list.
This kaleidoscope of strategies is reflected in the team’s results throughout the first half of the season. At the team’s competitive debut at a rain shortened Trick or Beat III in Chicago, Brews went 1-3 with a fairly comfortable loss to regional powerhouse TCQC and then closes losses to Chicago United (125-80) and Black Swamp Banshees (130-115) before a win over the nascent Detroit Demons (155-70).
At the Champaign qualifier, the team went 2-4 with wins over the Detroit Demons (140-135) and Black Swamp Banshees (135-100), before travel constraints led to a canceled rematch with Ohio Apollos. For a team held together by sheer will and New Glarus gimmicks, Brew Cities showed definitive improvement.
In the spring February, Brew Cities flew out West to compete in the Place Valley qualifier, going 1-5 with their lone win coming against Silicon Valley Venom. After two other spring tournaments in the form of Falcon Cup and the third Rust Belt meet, BCQC sports a 7-15 record.
Of all the teams in the open division, Brew Cities is one of the few in their inaugural season, and gave up a championship bid to go open. This nationals experience won’t be because they are a poor performer, but rather a focus on their ability and identity as a team, a lack of which largely limited their success in the fall. To that end, watch for coach Zeke Majeske and primary ball handler Spencer Reisig to continue to will this team forward as they are backed up by longtime veterans Sage Kowaletti (utility) and beaters Ali Markus and Marc Widerman.
The Second Stars
First Year team with injections of Lost Boys Veterans, high energy rookies, fresh out of college folks ( UCLA and CCC) and a handful of surprises.
T.S.S. are like a mongoose in the form of a Quadball team, utterly resilient and thirsty for a good fight.
While they’ve had consistent fluctuations in their roster throughout the season, their main points of consistency have been their plucky “Second to None” attitudes and vigorous play-style.
They have played mostly teams from the west with the exception of taking on the Warriors at Regionals and that game lasted 2 days! So T.S.S. is hungry to go up against some new challengers and close out the season with some epic clashes.
Having a team of largely fresh faces means the sky's the limit for TSS to show off what they’ve been working on all season long. Some core members had played with the Lost boys at earlier points in the season and are looking to take that experience to the moon with Second Stars.
Players to watch: German Barrios: Coach for UCLA and one of the sharpest keeper’s out there. Joey “Wally” Shea: Fresh out of CCC they’re a Utility Player with a helluva lotta spunk. 1st Season Rookie Qalil “The Beast” Ismail: Just watch and find out
At Nationals they intend to do as their team cheer says and “Make em see stars”
Note: After the drafting of this article, Atlantic Dragons moved from the championship division to open division. You can view our summary of Atlantic Dragons here
