Washington Admirals 2026 Preview: Sail Away, Sail Away

By: Riley Hodder

In the 2025 season, the Washington Admirals sailed away from their regular-season games in the middle of the pack. With exactly six wins and six losses, they managed to beat longtime rivals the Charlotte Aviators and the Ottawa Black Bears, but lost to teams that are consistently at the top of the East Division: the New York Titans and the Boston Forge.

But what the Admirals excelled at during last year's season was finding a way to punch up. During their series against Boston, they came away with a win in Game One, 110-80. Despite dropping their first game against the Aviators, they came back and punched Charlotte in the mouth, winning their next two games 175-100 and 175-120.

That momentum only continued into MLQ Championships. While their lackluster regular season had them starting in the play-in bracket, they woke up championship weekend with an 8:30 landslide win against the Detroit Innovators, 175-30. With that win, they were on the easiest trajectory to the championship bracket, taking out their familiar rivals, the Aviators, 160-115.

But their season came to an end when the Admirals found themselves facing the San Antonio Soldados, the eventual champions, as their first opponent on the road to the championship. They put up a valiant fight, but eventually, they lost to the Texas team, 165-70 in Game One and 185-120 in Game Two.

Like always, Washington opens the season in their matchup against the Titans. But the team that was defined by its never-give-up attitude last season has gained some new names this season. Will those new additions be the wind that the Admirals need in their sails to go from a team that should never be underestimated to a team that’s in serious contention for a title? Only time will tell. But here’s what you need to know about Washington ahead of the 2026 MLQ Season.

2026 Roster Moves

Returners:

Adrian Koretsky (DCQC)

Bryan Mulcahy (Boston Lobsters)

Caitlyn Breslow (JMU)

Chantal Siodlarz (UVA)

Claire Shuey (Dragon Wolves)

Colin Bourn (DCQC)

Diana Howard (DCQC)

Gabe Templeton (DCQC)

Jeannette High (DCQC)

Joey Beh (UVA)

John Evans (UVA)

John Gaffigan (DCQC)

Julia Rankin (DCQC)

Juli Nuetzel (DCQC)

Liz Stone (DCQC)

Nathan Jun (UVA)

Rachel Williams (DCQC)

Riley Starrs (DCQC)

Ryan Marsh (DCQC)

Shane McConaghie (DCQC)

Zan Siddiqui (DCQC)

Losses:

Aidan Ng

Athilesh Thanigai (To Boston Forge) (Boston Lobsters)

Cat Sylvain

Claire Lawson

Helen Trudell

Janice Smith

Levan Tsiskarishvili

Robert Rice

Summer Solis

New to the Ship:

Brandon Borges (DCQC)

Jaden Kline (UVA)

Elizabeth McFarland-Porter (Washington Monuments)

Khamari Parker (UVA)

Anne Marie Pritchett (UVA)

Elizabeth Reinhardt (UVA)

Jordi Sancho Jr. (DCQC)

Tristan Schneider (UVA)

Eric Thompson (UVA)

The Season at a Glance

With the MLQ switch-up, the Admirals set sail on their 2026 regular season with only two opponents on the seas ahead: their old rivals, New York and Boston.

They open the season as the home team, with the Titans coming to them on June 6th. They’ll face these long-time rivals with their refreshed roster. But New York, as always, will be no easy feat. While this series will be a tough one for Washington to win, it will be a good chance for them to get their younger players experience against high-level opponents. Don’t count this team out if they fall to New York 0-3.

The Admirals set sail for Boston just a few weeks later, taking on the Forge on June 20th. This will be a more comparable matchup for Washington, as the Forge is retooling its roster this season after losing much of its veteran corps. Expect this series to be a bellwether for how the Admirals compare to the rest of the league.

Washington gets a long break after their second series, waiting until Aug. 1-2 for the Eastern Conference Championships, held in Hamilton, Ohio. They’ll be facing off against their Atlantic Division rivals, while also taking on the Gateway Division: the Detroit Innovators, the Cleveland Riff and the Charlotte Aviators. The Admirals should have a competitive advantage over all three of their Gateway opponents, so expect them to perform well at Eastern Conference Champs, and to take that momentum into MLQ Champs just two weeks later.

Season Potentials

Washington established themselves as a never-give-up team that can have some major upsets last year. This season will be about maintaining that level of competitiveness and taking it a step forward. While the Admirals managed to punch up last year, taking a few games off of good teams and keeping it close against Championship contenders, they’ve got much of the same crew this year. While they’re missing several components that led to their success last year, they’ve also gained a lot of talent.

If Washington wants this season to be defined as a success, then they need to take their competitive edge to the next level. Instead of keeping games close, they need to win. And instead of knocking a game off of good teams, they need to start taking home series wins against their rivals.

Why They Will

Perhaps the Admirals’ biggest strength is their ability to work together. Basically all of Washington’s players come from one of two USQ teams: DCQC on the Club side and UVA on the College side.

This gives the Admirals an advantage. MLQ teams often struggle with tight timelines, pushing players that don’t often play together to find quick synergy and be able to perform. Washington gets the opportunity to build on the talent and strategy they worked on for months during the USQ season and bring that to the MLQ season.

And these two teams are not just any teams. They are consistently dominant teams that have lots of experience battling against the top players in the league. From DCQC, you have Adrian Koretsky, Jeannette High, Zan Siddiqui and Bryan Mulcahy all bringing their game experience and talent to the Admirals. On the UVA side, you have young talents building on their already well-known names, like Chantal Siodlarz, Joey Beh and Nathan Jun. Giving these players a chance to build off of their USQ successes with more talent in their roster and more weapons to pick from makes for an interesting team that has an advantage over some of their opponents that may struggle to combine large amounts of teams into one unit.

Why They Won’t

Washington has always been a talented team, but what they have always struggled with is simple: location. The Admirals are poised in one of the most talent-laden regions in Quadball. The East Coast talent pool has a wealth to choose from, and yet, it seems like their former East Division opponents in Boston and New York have always had the better cores.

Washington finds themselves squashed between two notorious powerhouses once more. In the Atlantic division, they’ll have to face the Titans and the Forge again. And while Washington is better than most of their Eastern Conference competitors, there’s a chance it’ll be continuously relegated as the underdog. It may struggle with its placement come Eastern Conference Championships and MLQ Championships, because it might struggle to find “easy wins” that other teams at its level seem to find in spades.

But if it's one thing these DCQC players know about, it’s playing the underdog. The question is whether or not the UVA players can do the same. The Virginia team is used to being on top, and though it has struggled to get results, it has consistently found itself playing on Day Two of the US Quadball Cup. It’ll be interesting to see if the college players will be able to keep the momentum when the pace of play doesn’t swing Washington’s way. But with many of them already having Admirals experience, they might be more accustomed to punching up than one would think. All I know is, we only have to wait a little while longer to find out.