Fast Takes With Fast Break: Charlotte Aviators vs Boston Forge

Authors: Brandon Borges and Isabel Roseth

Burning Skies

The Week Two series of the 2025 Major League Quadball East Division pits two familiar foes against one another in unfamiliar roles. The Boston Forge, long the standard-bearers of Eastern dominance, arrive in Charlotte for a three-game clash that will test whether their youth are ready for prime time. Meanwhile, the Charlotte Aviators, still searching for their first-ever win against Boston, enter the season with perhaps their best chance yet to take flight.

This matchup has always been lopsided in the standings, but not without underlying tension. Since the Aviators’ founding in 2021, the Forge have consistently burned through Charlotte with precision and control, rarely showing signs of vulnerability. But this year, the skies might finally shift. Boston enters the series with a retooled roster and a new head coach, while Charlotte returns nearly all of its key contributors, fortified by stability and veteran leadership.

The stakes are high. Preseason observers have Charlotte pegged as a possible top-two team in the East, an honor Boston claimed last season. But on Saturday, June 14, it’s put up or shut up. For Boston, the goal is to prove that their new-look roster can rise just as high as their past lineups. For Charlotte, it’s about proving they can finally crack the Forge and reshape the narrative.

New Paths Forward

Last season’s series between these two teams was anything but close. Boston dominated from start to finish, sweeping Charlotte with blowout scores and suffocating beater play. The Forge controlled tempo, forced turnovers and piled on fast-break goals, exposing Charlotte’s struggles in the half-court. But with Boston retooling and Charlotte returning a more experienced core, this year’s rematch promises to be a very different story.

Change is in the air for both franchises, not just on the field, but on the sideline. Both the Forge and the Aviators will take the pitch with new head coaches at the helm. Kieran Collier, one of the league’s smartest beater minds and a key player in Boston’s past dominance, now leads the Forge. On the other side, longtime Aviator Allison Slominski steps into the head coaching role, tasked with refining a Charlotte roster that returns a battle-tested core ready to take the next step.

These new leaders bring fresh energy and distinct challenges. For Collier, the mission is to integrate a wave of rookies and college players into Boston’s championship-caliber infrastructure without losing the fire that’s defined the franchise. For Slominski, the task is elevating returning talent and unlocking a more consistent half-court offense from a team that has always thrived in chaos and transition.

There’s little time for experimentation, particularly for Charlotte, who will not get the benefit of testing new concepts against the Ottawa Black Bears, as the Black Bears have already forfeited their series against the Aviators. With MLQ Championships looming in Buffalo, NY, this series may carry long-term implications for playoff seeding in the East Division. Both teams are targeting a top-two finish to avoid the play-in round, and in a field where the margins are thin and matchups brutal, every win matters.

For both Collier and Slominski, a series victory here would offer more than just standings points. It would be proof of concept. A signal to the league, and to their own locker rooms, that their vision is taking hold. Because while Week Two won’t define the season, it can light the path for everything to come.

Boston Team Breakdown

Forge’s modus operandi remains in question. Last season’s team boasted variability but lacked adaptability; their lines were set and each line had a definitive style. The well-oiled machine we knew, however, has replaced some vital machinery. Their roster is younger, which could revitalize the squad, but it also causes some glaring weaknesses, primarily in the chaser game. That said, veterans Athena Mayor and Carsen Olazaba will strengthen both Boston’s offense and defense. Emma Persons is undoubtedly a game-changer for Forge; with both her strategy and prowess on the pitch, Persons is highly likely to redefine what Boston’s chaser corps looks like in 2025. 

Boston’s beaters remain a force to be reckoned with. Lulu Xu and Max Havlin, both of the US National Team, make their return as Boston’s top beater pair. Together, they shut down offenses and unravel defenses and while their styles are very defined, very few beater pairs are truly able to match up against them. Tom DeMouth and Erin McCrady are also a major threat on the pitch, and Boston’s well-established beater duos will help them forge their way to success. 

Defensively, Boston has changed very little and are unlikely to restructure, even with chaser Zach Doyle gone. In addition to Mayor, Samantha Magner is making a return, and while she is known for her shots on offense, she notably can take down players much bigger than her and plays a very active role in Boston’s defense. If their shorter lineup is taken advantage of, however, shots could pose a large threat to Boston, especially since Forge cannot rely on tall hoops players to prevent them. 

Ultimately, Forge needs to be adaptable. Reliable veterans will take them far, but a team cannot revolve around a handful of players at the MLQ level. Whether they switch out predetermined lines or individual players when they need to drag themselves out of a valley, Boston should worry less about if they struggle against Charlotte than what to change in response. 

Charlotte Team Breakdown

This is a very stable Charlotte roster, and that continuity could be their biggest strength early in the season. While Boston is piecing together parts of a new identity, the Aviators return almost all of their core contributors, including stars Zachary Thompson, Ryan Davis, Kody LaBauve, Celine Richard and Oliver Hodge. That consistency, paired with a new head coach in Allison Slominski, who knows the roster inside and out, gives Charlotte a clear early advantage in chemistry and execution.

On paper, the Aviators are built for speed and disruption. Their point defense, led by Hodge and Braxton Hale, is aggressive and physical, designed to force one-on-one matchups and fuel transition play. And when they get out and run, they’re dangerous. Thompson’s range and Davis’s versatility make them one of the most dynamic duos in the league, while players like Melissa Ross, Allison Slominski and Austin Cruz continue to develop into key contributors.

The question for Charlotte is their set offense efficiency. When forced to slow down, the Aviators have struggled with ball movement, timing and shot selection, often relying on deep shots or low-percentage looks. It cost them against Boston last year. It cost them again in the play-in game against New Orleans.

Now, with Richard back in the beater rotation and rising talents like Lauren Hirsch and Tony Bonadio gaining confidence, Charlotte’s defense should only improve. But for the Aviators to truly take flight this season, it won’t be their defense that defines them, it will be whether their offense can finally find rhythm when the game slows down.

Setting the Stage

This series will be decided in the margins: the half-second decisions in the open field, the beater duels at mid-pitch and the ability to control tempo when the game threatens to spiral.

Last summer, Boston swept Charlotte, with scores of 235-60, 255-40 and 220-105. This year, however, Boston should not expect history to repeat itself. Boston’s chaser game is significantly weakened; last year Peter Lawrence drove through Charlotte’s defenses, and without them, Forge is lacking in both height and sheer force. If Boston relies less on steamrolling, they have a good chance of taking the series, but will struggle to recreate last year’s score differentials against the Aviators.

Boston will look to dominate in the beater game; if Charlotte fails to keep up with Havlin and Xu, DeMouth and McCrady and any other duos we end up seeing, Boston can overwhelm their opponent and attack. In a similar vein, Boston’s chasers must remain aggressive on defense; if they can build a wall that Charlotte cannot get past — especially a wall that will hit and tackle consistently — this series could very well be won on defense. 

Charlotte wants to spread the field. Their defense thrives on pressure at the point of attack, with Hodge and Hale looking to force turnovers at midfield and jumpstart fast breaks. When it works, the Aviators turn defense into offense in a flash. But when it doesn’t, especially against teams that can absorb pressure and reset under control, Charlotte can be exposed in transition the other way.

The beater game for the Aviators will be central. Havlin, Xu and company have historically dominated this matchup, but Charlotte are more equipped than ever to challenge for control. If the Aviators can deny Boston consistent dodgeball dominance, they can disrupt the Forge’s transition engine and force them into slower possessions, where Boston’s rebuilt offense still has something to prove.

One factor that often flies under the radar in Quadball is home-field advantage, and it could play a meaningful role in this series. Concord, North Carolina is a long haul from Boston, and making that trip for an early-season series, with a roster full of younger, less battle-tested players could wear on the Forge. If Charlotte is able to hold their own in the beater game, their fast-reacting chasers and aggressive beat-first defense could quickly throw Boston’s offensive rhythm off balance. In a matchup where momentum and tempo matter, small environmental and logistical edges like these could tilt things slightly in the Aviators’ favor.

Lastly, if these games come down to snitch-on-pitch, expect fireworks. Stephen Trempel has been Boston’s steady closer, but Ryan Davis is one of the most lethal seekers in the league. With elite beaters supporting both, don’t be surprised if the flag runner becomes the center of attention in a series that’s closer than history suggests.

Prediction

This series has all the makings of a tone-setter, not just for these two teams, but for the entire East Division. Charlotte enters with momentum, chemistry and a returning core that knows how to play together. Their beaters are deeper than ever, their point defense is still disruptive, and with Ryan Davis in seeker play, they have a real path to a statement win.

But Boston isn’t handing over the keys to the East just yet. If Havlin and Xu maintain their typical dominance in the beater game, and if Collier’s new-look chaser group can stay composed under pressure, the Forge should still have the tools to come out ahead. The key will be whether their offensive structure holds up if and when Charlotte slows the game down and forces them into half-court sets.

Expect at least one game to go down to the flag runner, and if so, don’t be surprised if Davis and Charlotte steal one on home turf. But in the end, Boston’s depth, defensive discipline and transition play should give them just enough to edge out the series.

Prediction: 2-1 Boston