Fast Takes with FastBreak: Houston vs San Antonio
By: Whitney Ho and Kaden Roberts
This week in MLQ, the Houston Legends hope to bounce back from a tough defeat and host the San Antonio Soldados on Saturday, June 27. The Legends are not off to a good start this year following their defeat in their series against the Kansas City Stampede. But now that they're on their home turf, will they be able to turn it around? The Soldados will begin their title defense deep in Legends territory, and many have written them off already. Will San Antonio start the season hot or fizzle out?
Houston Legends: Ready to Blast Off
The 2026 MLQ season did not start off great for the Legends. They went 0-3 against the Stampede, with their closest game being 145-100, a 45-point difference. Granted, the Stampede is ranked number one in FastBreak News’ preseason rankings, so while it's unfortunate for Legends fans, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Houston will face the only other team in their division, the Soldados, this weekend, and there should be no doubt that it will be exciting. The Legends and Soldados will be playing in Huntsville, Texas, which is the home turf for a majority of the Legends’ SHSU alumni, so the Houston players will be playing that much harder for the win.
Both the Legends and the Soldados are the only teams remaining in Texas after the Austin Outlaws were rendered inactive at the end of the 2024 season. The teams have a friendly yet heated rivalry fueled by USQ competition and said rivalry will reach a new height this series. Multiple players transferred to the Legends from the Soldados this season, including Javi Tijerina (not rostered for this weekend), Milena Sousa and Riley Moehlmann. This is a major gain for the Legends and conversely, a big loss for the Soldados, as all players are incredible assets for their teams. These players, on top of Legends heavy-hitters like Andrew Acosta, Andrew Cortez, Conner Mason, Chase Contreras, and Mallory Hughes mean the Legends will have some scary faces on the field. All this being said, the Soldados are ranked above Houston this season and beat them 3-0 last year, so they will really have to work for a victory.
The Legends' biggest win factor will be their beaters. I’ve said this in previous articles, but Houston has some of the most dominant beaters in the southwest, with their players able to play every aspect of the beater game incredibly well, as well as adapt to how their opponents are playing fast and counter. Not to mention, most of the Houston chasers are very fast and agile, meaning they can blitz past the Soldados' defense for a clean goal.
San Antonio Soldados: Back for More
This is definitely a different look for San Antonio than last year’s MLQ Championship season. Big name departures, such as Jay Stewart, Daniel Williams, Catherine Hay, Riley Moehlmann and many more crucial pieces to their Benepe Cup run, has forced the Soldados to rebuild. However, with new talent coming in from Texas State, Texas and even Sohum Sharma from Illini, the Soldados will still be optimistic as they gear up to face Houston on their home turf.
Similar to last year, San Antonio boasts a star-studded chaser corps that is hungry to capitalize on last season’s success. Last year, Texas State’s David Avila tallied nine goals in the Soldados’ series against Kansas City and secured the Southwest MVP for the season. Other big names include USNT members Hayden Boyes, Alyssa Villalba and Miguel Esparza and USNTDA members Izzy Ramirez, Nate Targonski and Ella Jordan. With a strong foundation already built from their successes last season and Boyes’ coaching, expect these chasers to come out hot, strong and ready to win.
In the beating game, the Soldados will be led by Baldemar Nuñez and Kris De La Fuente, two experienced players who contributed heavily to San Antonio’s success in Buffalo. Nuñez led the stats sheet after the Kansas City series with seven stops and a staggering plus-minus (+17). This weekend, it will be crucial for Nuñez and De La Fuente to not only set the tone early, but also act as support for the younger college beaters, such as Sharma, Sam Regardia, Julie Picasso and Kai Pacheco. While there have been many changes to the roster, if the Soldados can connect the different pieces, why shouldn’t they walk away with a series win?
Series Ahead
This weekend, expect the quadball game to be fast and unforgiving. Both teams boast a wide range of talent and nationally recognized players, so don’t be surprised if the Legends and the Soldados trade goals consistently. The true difference maker will be the beaters — in their previous series against the Stampede, the Legends struggled at times against the more experienced Kansas City beaters. If Nuñez and De La Fuente have whipped their college kids into shape, this could be a repeat of last series for Houston. However, the Legends have built a much stronger beater corps than years past and will meet the Soldados head-on to fight for their first regular-season victory in over two years.
All in all, the Legends remain the underdogs this season, so they will really have to give it their all to claim victory. Houston has the skill, talent and drive to do it, but only time will tell if they’ll be able to get the upset and the Soldados aren't going to make it easy on them. Regardless of which way the series falls, this is no doubt going to be one of the most exciting series of the season. With some of the best college and club players in the league suiting up this weekend, the energy is going to be over the moon.
Kaden Prediction: 2-1 either way
Whitney Prediction: Many MLQ fans have already counted the Soldados out early, even going as far as to say that their No. 4 FBN ranking is too high considering the players they’ve lost. However, this writer, while biased, has faith in the young corps of San Antonio. While this may be a hard-fought victory, the Soldados have the vision, the weapons and the attitude to bring a series win back to San Antonio and start their season off strong.
2-1 San Antonio
