Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way: Chicago Prowl takes Detroit Innovators 2-1

By: Isabel Roseth

PC: MLQ

The 2024 Major League Quadball season officially kicked off on June 1 in Schaumburg, Illinois with a face-off between the Chicago Prowl (CHI) and the Detroit Innovators (DET). Both teams performed well despite the on and off downpours and classic Chicagoland windchill, although the Prowl decidedly came out on top with a 2-1 series win. That said, this wasn’t an easy win for the Prowl, as the Innovators proved their ability to rebound, both by recovering from a point deficit and fighting to keep every offense alive. 

Saturday’s games saw many younger faces who still play at the collegiate level, including Prowl’s Byron Ng (Rutgers) and Maverick Wolf (Columbia College Chicago), who showed the divide between college and club gets smaller every year. Innovators boasts Julien Theuerkauf, who recently graduated from the University of Michigan, and prodigal son Leo Fried, whose name was chanted by the crowds as he competed for and won the collegiate D1 in April, faced their first MLQ series post grad. While Fried, who also holds a Team USA spot, exhibited his familiar prowess in the chaser game, he was hardly the only star of Saturday’s show. 

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Prowl narrowly won the first game of the series with a final score of 120-105, ultimately recovering from a tied, point-for-point matchup. Liam Zach III of the Prowl scored the game’s first goal, although Fried followed with a point for Detroit not long after. 

Defensively, Innovators chose not to press very hard and instead began with a “three trees” hoops defense with their beaters at hoops, which foiled a good number of Prowl’s offenses. Alternatively, Prowl started off playing a “two-two” zone defense. Prowler and powerhouse Kennedy Murphy excelled at preventing Innovators from driving towards hoops by pressuring up top and a successful tackle in the first half of the game. 

Nathan Digmann (CHI) blocked a shot to end a Detroit offense, while Innovator Gwen Pratt (DET) ended a Prowl offense by falling on and protecting the quadball until their team could gain control. Notably, both defenses were largely powered by the beaters; Ojas Turekar (CHI) played aggressively on the transition to prevent Innovators from fastbreaking while, on defense, Rei Brodeur (DET) solidly held offending players at bay. Brooke Smiley (DET), remained unrelenting on both offense and defense, beating the opposition’s chasers out one by one and weakening Prowl offenses. 

At the 20 minute mark, Prowl was ahead 60-30, but their lead did not last much longer. Innovators chose to use Fried in the chaser game rather than the seeker game, and he helped raise the score during seeker play. Neil Peterson (DET) ultimately caught after a catch by opposing seeker Zach III (CHI) was ruled no good. After Peterson’s catch, the score was 85-80 in the Innovators’ favor — effectively tied. 

For the rest of the game, it stayed quite close, with both teams playing intense half-courts back and forth. Pratt (DET) blocked a shot by Ng (CHI), and while Prowl recovered the offense, chaser Luc Marklin (DET) ended it with another block. At one point, Innovators left Prowl with zero dodgeballs, and despite an overshot to Pratt, Innovators scored, bringing the match to 95-80. 

The tussle for the win led to both Pratt and Zach taking injury subs, no doubt a blow to both Innovators and the Prowl. However, Prowl beaters exhibited their ability to maintain control in the transition, allowing their chasers to tie the score yet again. Continuing to profit off beater chaos, and working through another Innovators goal, Prowl scored not long after, leaving them in the lead 110-105 — if they scored, that next goal would be the game point. The chasers shut down Detroit’s next offense while their beaters won control. Prowl scored one final time after flipping the script and leaving Innovators with no dodgeballs to win the game CHI 120-105 DET. From the start to the finish, the rain did not relent, leaving spectators to wonder how the game might have looked had it been dry. 

The downpour let up by the beginning of the second game and, like the weather, the Innovators bench appeared much less grim. Reinvigorated, they won 105-60, forcing the third game of the series. Fried (DET) scored the game’s first goal, and the defense around him held fast and prevented Prowl from scoring a revenge goal. This second matchup was much scrappier than the first; Prowl pressed the Innovators past the midline and forced multiple turnovers, including one right before the keeper zone. The beater game maintained its physicality as well; Caleb Williams (CHI) tackled Brodeur (DET) for a dodgeball and won the fight after a tap beat from Tad Walters (CHI). 

Innovators chaser Ashton Glenn forced a turnover at midline with a one-armed push, but the refs carded Glenn for the move, and the ball was turned back over to Prowl, who eventually scored the game’s second goal, tying the score at 10-10. They then took the lead when Digmann successfully shot past Fried’s defense on the middle hoop.

Possession of the quadball switched wildly from one team to another without either team scoring. A block by Ng (CHI) earned Prowl the ball, but they lost the offense at hoops. Murphy (CHI) got close to scoring, but was ultimately foiled by pressure from the Innovators behind the hoops. On defense, Prowl foiled a pass to Fried and took the quadball, and although he intercepted a pass from one Prowler to another, the turnover control of the quadball ultimately ended up with Prowl. 

A series of near-successful offenses followed. Theuerkauf (DET) fastbreaked and passed to Fried, who was beat just before they threw the quadball through the hoop. Emma Vasquez (CHI) recovered a wild pass to nowhere, but Theuerkauf knocked the ball out of her hands — however, Murphy (CHI) quickly recovered the possession. 

Marklin (DET) received a yellow card for contacting a helpless receiver, leading to another Prowl goal. Innovators, now two goals down, struggled to break through Prowl's offensive pressure and failed to block another shot on their hoops. Theuerkauf (DET) attempted to dunk a goal for his team but was stopped, and the proceeding half court knocked down two hoops and multiple players, ending with a stop by Prowl and Innovators retreating back to hoops. 

The fiery second game was not without its injuries. Byron Ng in particular took one of the hardest hits of the series before the 20 minute mark and stayed down; he was eventually helped off the pitch by two individuals and did not play for the rest of the series. 

At 20 minutes, the game was CHI 40-20 DET with a set score of 100. The beaters focused mainly on the seeker game, while Prowl’s chasers relied on hits and tackles to crush Innovators offense, and score the first goal of the half. Walters (CHI) was repeatedly beat out, giving the Innovators’ seekers a virtually unobstructed path to the a flag runner. Prowl seeker Melanie Rolfe got a good number of looks, but ultimately struggled to clinch the catch. Her one catch, in which she made a come from behind grab on the flag, was called no good — the refs ruled she had been beaten before in a controversial call that left some spectators (and disgruntled players) thinking she had been clear.

Innovators scored their crucial third goal of the game just before Peterson caught for a second game in a row, leaving them in the lead with a score of 65-60. Following the catch, Prowl struggled against reinvigorated Innovators lines- falling to prevent fast breaks and turning over the ball  with incomplete possessions, which ultimately led to their loss. Theuerkauf (DET) played a large role in the Innovators’ win, scoring two of their four final goals, and Fried (DET) ended the game with one last goal.  

At first, the final game of the series appeared to be steadily leading to a swift Prowl victory. They scored eight goals in a row, including an impressive shot from Zach mid-tackle and a fast break from Digmann after intercepting a pass from Fried (DET). Not ready to bow out yet, Innovators proved they could keep an offense drive alive but kept failing to complete them in the face of the physical and unrelenting nature of Prowl’s defense. Prowl’s beaters succeeded in winning control from the Innovators which, when held, aided their already dominant chaser game.

Finally, Fried scored the first goal for Innovators around the 14 minute mark, starting a four goal run, bringing the score up to 80-50. Prowl repeatedly failed to prevent Innovators chasers from cutting to hoops and scoring, and when the Innovators’ beaters left Prowl beaterless on offense, Prowl chasers were unable to score. Prowl put up a fight on defense, and keeper Matthew Troy (CHI) put some good pressure to prevent their opponents from driving. 

Prowl did not score again before the 20 minute mark, and both teams had a shot at reaching the set score of 140. Seeker play lasted a while; Peterson caught right after the whistle blew to stop play for a lost quadball, and the catch was called no good. Meanwhile, the Innovators chasers played physical, taking down many Prowl players who aimed to score. Matt Melton (CHI) eventually broke through the tough defense and scored a goal, moving the needle and inch forward for Prowl. 

When seeker Ethan Wanous (DET) finally made a catch, Prowl was in the lead 110-60, and the catch shrunk the gap to a two goal game at CHI 110- DET- 95. Innovators fought hard for the win, including an impressive save on offense by Fried (DET), preventing the quadball from rolling out of bounds and leading to a goal by Theuerkauf, but the Innovators ultimately lost to the Prowl 140-105.

While Prowl clinched the series win, in no way did they sweep the less accoladed Innovators. With Peterson and Wanous (DET), their seeker game went unmatched, and overall the team came close to a series upset. Innovators now turns to their next matchup against the Toronto Raiders at home on June 29, while Prowl will face the Minneapolis Monarchs in Golden Valley, Minnesota on June 22. 

Cover Image By: Marcos Sandoval