Fast Takes With Fast Break: New York vs Washington
The Empire Strikes Again
Author: Ashton Butler
Another MLQ season, another week one matchup between the New York Titans and the Washington Admirals. This matchup has been scheduled for week one since 2022, and history has heavily favored the Titans who have won eight out of the nine games. In 2022, the average margin of victory was a score difference of 21.6 points which has since grown to 113.3. This matchup between East powerhouses has taken a turn for the Admirals. However, this is a new season for the Admirals. They have added young pieces and grown throughout the USQ season, and they are primed to head up to New York and fight to prove their worthiness to be atop the East. For New York, this is a statement to hold onto what has been their spot, and for Washington, this is a chance for young faces to step up and shine in the spotlight.
Series Rosters:
While both teams have kept a lot of the core pieces they had one year ago, each team has turned courses to make improvements but have taken very different approaches to their changes as a team.
Washington:
Washington comes into season two of the youth movement. Out of the new additions to the team, seven out of eleven played in college during the 2024-2025 USQ season. Washington brings four MLQ rookies from the Division 1 college runner-up, Virginia, who join their teammate and veteran Admiral, Zan Siddiqui. The roles of these young Virginia players are going to be put to the test early on in the season, and it starts with beater Joey Beh. Beh will be tested immediately as he will look to beat against some of the top beaters in the world with a lineup star studded with USNT talent, reigning MVPs, Gold Medalists and champions of both MLQ and USQ. Beh is a very athletic beater for this Washington team, and if veteran beaters and assistant coaches Adrian Koretsky and Colin Bourn can help to turn that athleticism into playmaking, it will be a major factor for this team. Chantal Siodlarz joins the team as well after an impressive run in USQ. Siodlarz has a high level skill to move in space, find openings, and hit shots, and the magical performance from Siodlarz and her teammates in the USQ Division 1 final will need to appear again. However, the youth does not end with Virginia as James Madison University brings in three MLQ rookies along with their veteran teammate in Levan Tsiskarishvili. Tsiskarishvili was only rostered for their series against Charlotte a season ago, but was able to score two goals. Tsiskarishvili is a chaser with the unique combination of both size and speed assisting him defensively. Tsiskarishvili will need a big weekend to kick off his second season as an admiral. Washington added another veteran into the mix after a summer away in beater Diana Howard. In 2023, Howard had a monstrous season for Washington amounting to 11 stops across 100 drives. The combination of athleticism and intelligence will be crucial for Washington with a surge of young beaters such as Aidan Ng and Beh.
Washington brings in a large unit of returners including the team’s top chasers from last year, Bryan Mulcahy and Riley Starrs, who together led the team in every stat. This duo has been representing the Admirals for several years, and last year really showed up as a pair of chasers who worked well together with their different playstyles on offense. Starrs is a big time playmaker and passer who is continuously finding the open player or the shot for himself, and Mulcahy is often the chaser on the finishing end of those Starrs assists being a big time driver and finisher on hoops. The collaboration of these two in union with other returners such as Jeannette High and Liz Stone who scored 15 goals each in 2024 should create for a strong core. Two USNTDA chasers make their return to the ship as Shane McConaghie and Siddiqui reunite after winning together in Spain at the Q Nations Cup. The two have a lot of similar skills as both are high level shooters, great tacklers and good seekers. Robert Rice will rejoin fellow beaters Koretsky and Bourn as another veteran beater for the team. Rice was second on the team in stops to Koretsky and led the team in average dodgeballs a season ago. This trio of returning beaters will be crucial in the series to come.
New York:
New York is coming into the season with a revamped team which took the holes left by stars of their recent championship roster and replaced them with depth pieces, many of which have already proven themselves in MLQ. Leo Fried comes back as the reigning North Division MVP to join the Titans this summer after a season in Detroit where he led the team to their most wins in a single season with 10. Fried will add a force in every chaser category as he was in the top three in goals, assists and stops a year ago, and after a USQ season playing with his Titans teammates, he is primed and ready for another electric season. Another major acquisition for New York in this season will be Byron Ng. Ng also returns to New York after spending two seasons in Chicago. While his stats may not be glaring, his ability to make plays without the ball and being an open option behind the hoops is lethal when paired with the passing skills of three of the top 10 chasers in assists in 2024. Returning for New York is a group of USNT players including Tate Kay, Lindsay Marella, Mohammed Haggag and Molly Potter. These four all present a real threat to Washington as Marella had 12 goal participation (goals and assists) in their series last season, Haggag was able to catch the flag runner two out of three times, and Kay in just 26 drives was able to accumulate a +/- of 11. If that wasn’t enough, East MVP and Kay’s 2024 beating partner Tessa Cicco returns to the pitch. She was on the field for 23 of the scores for New York last season ending the series with 11 +/- as well.
Despite the accolades, this New York roster has plenty of depth coming with them to defend home turf. Annika Kim is back chasing for the Titans after scoring eight goals in nine games for the Titans in 2024, six against Washington. Kim is a reserve this summer for the USNT in Belgium. She has proven over and over her toughness out on the field, and she seems to always be open on offense to make the game easier for her teammates. Frank Minson will also come into this series as a key contributor of past seasons. Minson a season ago was the leading scorer for New York in this series with nine of his 18 goals on the season scored in this matchup. Chasers such as Minson and returner Mike Li will create havoc on Washington chasers while wearing the green on defense and being lethal scorers on offense. The beating pair of Devin Lee and Rachel Ayella-Silver will also be a major piece to this New York team as the two were the counterpart to Kay and Mullins. They amounted to a combined plus/minus of 48 and 16 stops last season.
Series Preview:
This series is a major player as to how the season could go for both of these teams. If both teams are able to conquer their series against Charlotte and Washington can take care of business in Ottawa, the winner of this series will have control of their own destiny going into a must-win series against Boston to secure the first seed in the East. The winner of this series would ultimately claim the tiebreaker between the teams and give them an increased chance to hold onto a top two spot in the division barring any major upsets. So the question is, what will make the difference in this series?
Keys To Victory: Washington
Beater play for Washington will be a major factor. The veterans led by Koretsky have their work cut out for them as they go up against a loaded beating core. The beaters will play a crucial role in the success of their chasers on offense as giving the young chasers time to process and work will be needed if they are looking to be successful. Defensively, this is no different as a defense with no dodgeballs back is swiss cheese for chasers such as Fried or Zach Armantrading. Securing a dodgeball on defense and not throwing prematurely or into risky situations will be crucial for the beaters on the Admirals.
Washington needs to look to slow the pace of play and allow plays to develop. This is a team that, when rushed a year ago, had costly turnovers that cost them points in transition. If this team keeps to a slow pace to allow playmakers such as Starrs to find openings in the defense, it will create easy scores and allow them to set up a strong defense, giving them a chance against the fire-powered offense of the Titans.
Washington needs to put a flag grab on the board. Washington was the worst in the East division in flag pulls a season ago with only two catches coming from Siddiqui in the regular season. The Admirals need to look to create space for their seekers to capitalize quickly and make a grab. New York has one of the most difficult flag runner games to counter in the league as not only do they have multiple USNT seekers, but their chasers are next to impossible to stop in chaser–on–chaser situations.
Keys To Victory: New York
Smothering defense. This New York team has a core filled to the brim with athleticism that can get out and play defense on anyone. Making Washington uncomfortable by pressuring them far beyond the keeper zone line will help to make the game difficult for passing. Forcing long ball passes are the bread and butter for the athletic beaters to get out into space and create turnovers. The combination of tight on-ball defense from point chasers such as Li and Minson and off-ball mark defense from Marella and Potter spells a recipe for success on the defensive end.
Everyone gets a touch. On offense, when forced to set up into a half-court set, it will be crucial for this New York team to play to its biggest strength through its ball movement. Washington’s high level point chaser play from hitters like Mulcahy is not something to attack, but working the ball around to find the weaker spots in the defense to create mismatches and one-on-one attacks for chasers will be the ultimate creation of goals and easy offense.
Catch the flags. Easier said than done, but Kay and Mullins often look like they are on an island out in flag runner land. They will need to maintain this throughout FROP to lead to easy catches for seekers Haggag, Cupid and Fried. However, the dominance of whichever beater pair is out during FROP is going to be vital because of the ability of Washington’s seekers to get a quick pull and swing the momentum, and the game, into their favor, seen on full display at MLQ Championships last season against Charlotte.
Conclusion:
While there has been much improvement and growth in the Admirals, the time to grow is getting cut a bit short for them to match up against one of the favorites to win the Benepe Cup and stay champions. This matchup will hold much anticipation and will have fun highlights from the athletic potential from both teams, and this will be a must-see quadball as we kick off the 2025 MLQ season.
Prediction: New York 3-0
