Preview
Midwest Monday: No. 7-5
This week, the three of us discuss isolated powerhouse and World Cup V semifinalist University of Minnesota, a Michigan State University team that is hungry to prove itself, and World Cup VI darling Bowling Green State University.
As USQ prepares for its “inaugural” season, the three of us decided it would be interesting to write a small article highlighting the top 10 teams in the organization’s largest region: the Midwest. As most things concerning Midwest analysis tend to go, we ended up writing more than enough to give you all no less than five articles, which will be released each week leading up to the Midwest’s two kick-off events: Ohio State’s Tournament of the Stars 2 and the Illinois State Firebirds Opening Day on Sept. 20. After the season gets underway, we’ll occasionally revisit these rankings and update them as the first half of the season gets closer to the Midwest Regional Championship on Nov. 9.
This week, the three of us discuss isolated powerhouse and World Cup V semifinalist University of Minnesota, a Michigan State University team that is hungry to prove itself, and World Cup VI darling Bowling Green State University.
#7: University of Minnesota
David Hoops: This is a team that far too many forget when discussing potential Regional Champions. My own team (the Ohio State University) last season struggled mightily to crack Minnesota’s version of the three-tree zone defense, a strategy that Minnesota used against multiple teams. A quick look at Minnesota’s graduating players generates some early season question marks, however. Nine players, including seeker Jacob Drewa, chaser Jared Sipe, and keeper Cody Narveson, will not suit up for the Golden Gophers this season. This will hurt Minnesota early in the season, especially when coupled with its isolated location and lack of close competition to gain experience.
Minnesota has two aspects of its program that will quickly overcome graduation losses that took away some of its top talent as well as its depth. First: the three-tree zone defense. I obviously don’t understand it in the same manner as Minnesota or Baylor University, but the basics are not hard to grasp. Two chasers and a keeper guard the three hoops, the beaters patrol the middle of the pitch, and the point defender tries to make a tackle or quick steal. It is an easy system that new recruits can learn quickly. The second aspect is Minnesota’s very successful intramural system. This internally-run league helps Minnesota fill out its depth with athletes who have some competitive quidditch experience, as opposed to athletes who go into their first tournament with none whatsoever. I believe these two aspects will help Minnesota turn around quickly and come to the Midwest Regional Championship with an outside shot at the title.
Trevor Campbell: Unfortunately, I did not have the pleasure of watching any Minnesota games last semester. Being so far away from major tournaments has to be the biggest reason Minnesota is constantly left out of the discussion of the Midwest’s best, but I think that will change this season. Winning the Big Ten vs. MAC Challenge last season established Minnesota not only as a top-tier team for the Midwest, but also as a Pot One team going into World Cup. Although the snow at Big Ten vs. MAC hurt most teams, I think it helped Minnesota. Minnesota’s defensive strategy doesn’t require as much mobility as other styles; by having chasers guard the hoops, offenses are forced to drive to the hoops instead of taking long shots. But this is a lot harder for teams to do in over a foot of snow. Will Minnesota’s defense be as effective without snow, against more mobile teams? We will have to see. Additionally, the graduation rate for this team is alarming, but as David said, Minnesota has a strong intramural program, which makes me believe that the team will have people step up where they need to. With leaders and playmakers like Tim Ohlert, one of the most underrated beaters in the region, I think this team can fill the holes.
EW: I don’t think it was fair to call Minnesota a top-tier team last year. It played the minimum number of games necessary to qualify for World Cup and actually benefitted from only being able to lose one bracket play game at Midwest Cup. The Big Ten vs. MAC Challengewas a perfect opportunity for Minnesota to win because it was able to bring a full roster when teams like the University of Michigan and Michigan State University only had nine and 12 players respectively. Furthermore, Minnesota’s zone defense was almost unbreakable in eight inches of snow and ice that made it impossible for opposing teams to drive.
Basically, I don’t think Minnesota was “elite” last year, but it can be this year if it appropriately deals with the loss of all the players from its WCV Final Four run. I‘m going to go ahead and say that without Minnesota’s strong senior defenders, it may be advantageous for the team to try moving to a man-to-man defense. If it attempts to force the zone defense to work, this may hurt the team in the long run.
#6: Michigan State University (MSU)
EW: MSU was a bit of a conundrum for me in these rankings. While the teamis losing a significant amount of talent with the departures of Benjamin Ackland, Jack Norgren, Danielle White, and Nic Dziadosz, its seeking and keeping game is going to continue to be led by the experienced Jacob Heppe. Coached by Ian Hoopingarner, the team also retains a strong chunk of its chasing corps, anchored by Kevin Fennell, Sara DeLongchamp, and Sarah Walsh. All this seems to point to a solid year, yet I don’t think that this team will be able to close out games. With Heppe moving to seeker,MSU’s offense is going to noticeably lack a strong distributor who is also a major driving threat on bludgers down situations. This could lead to many games being pulled out of snitch range, forcing Heppe to put the green headband back on. I think this team will be able to get ahead by enough points in the first 18 minutes of 75 percent of its games to give Heppe time for a catch, but in games where it can’t establish a lead, MSU will falter.
TC: After losing a lot of big names, I want to say that Michigan State is going to drop this year. However, it was all about Heppe last year, and maybe this year it will be too. If he can save energy to use late in tournaments, I think MSU can win a tournament title. Losing Norgren is going to hurt, as he is one of the top seekers in the region. But with experienced beaters in Shelby Atkinson, Jim Richert, and Jacob Bobeldyk, MSU’s replacement seeker is going to have the luxury of time alone with the snitch to gain experience, and if Heppe is switching over to seeking, he can catch a break with these beaters.
DH: I think you hit all of the major points I was going to make, Eric. With Heppe being the team’s best quaffle player and seeker, MSU will comfortably close out matches where it holds a lead after the 18-minute mark. Coming from behind or being tied is where this team might fall into trouble, as I still never saw a great offense when Heppe wasn’t on the field keeping. I have a lot of faith in Hoopingarner as a coach and think he can help develop a more spread-out offensive strategy that allows Heppe to take pressure off himself and focus on his game with the yellow headband. Michigan State should retain most of its strategic versatility and knowledge of the game, two aspects that helped this team reach its potential on the big stage last season.
#5: Bowling Green State University (BGSU)
TC: With a low graduation rate, some may ask what happened for Bowling Green State University, the reigning Midwest Regional Champions, to be ranked fifth in the region. Obviously, losing players such as Evan Adkins, Katie Milligan, Ashley Seman, Cara Leach, and Joe Pavlik has an impact on that ranking. Another large impact was BGSU’s World Cup VII performance. With troubling games against the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Baylor, we saw a Bowling Green squad that underperformed and was divisive. Having reported on three of its games in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., I could tell that this was not the same team that my team (Ball State University) had played at the Regional Championship tournament. Emotions were preventing them from playing the style that they usually feature. Coming into WCVII, BGSU needed to prove that it was not simply a Cinderella story at World Cup VI or a team that caught a few breaks, but that it deserved to be in the discussion as one of the world’s best quidditch teams. Watching the sidelines, you could tell this emotion was driving the team; BGSU players screamed or yelled at players on and off the field during WCVII. This sense of urgency ultimately led to standout players Dan Daugherty and Chad Brown attempting to carry the team to the finals, pushing themselves to the limit while also not fully utilizing BGSU’s roster of 21 players.
That being in the past, Bowling Green is coming into this season with a new attitude.
“We are coming into this season potentially with a whole new look, and our goal is to gain experience and build a sustainable program here at [BGSU],” Daugherty said.“The goal will always be to win [the Regional Championship] and World Cup, but we are taking it one day at a time and we will make the most of the players we have on the pitch.”
Starting at the basics is exactly what this team needs. With players such as chaser Pari Yost, beater Max McAdoo, and beater Jenna Rindler having standout performances last year, look to them to come back with more experience and a higher level of competition. With new leaders stepping up to the plate, this team has a lot of promise, and although BGSU is not currently at the top, you can count on it making every conscious effort to move to the top.
DH: Those who know me personally know that I’ve spent a lot of time around Bowling Green’s program—my hometown is less than 10 minutes from its campus. I’ve attended at least one of the team’s practices per month since the middle of my sophomore year, and this is the first team I’ll watch at tournaments when I’m not too busy working with my own teammates. I know these players pretty well on a personal level and have studied Bowling Green’s game extensively.
I think the biggest reason Bowling Green will struggle against elite competition is the lack of creativity on the offensive end. It’s no secret that the offense still centers very much around Daugherty, whether it be his own version of hero ball or trying to weave long passes to (very talented) targets like Meredith Taylor, Yost, Greg Smolkovich, and Alex Closson. The problem arises when teams can take one or both of those options away from Daugherty. BGSU doesn’t have many other point-guard-style ball carriers, let alone others who can do that at Daugherty’s level. When a defense can make him one-dimensional, the team suffers a disproportionately high amount. Not many teams lower ranked have the ability to do this, which is why I don’t see this team falling prey to surprise upsets. Finding a more complex and diverse offensive strategy this season would pay massive dividends going forward and give Bowling Green a real shot at returning to its World Cup VI glory. The talent around Daugherty exists and is immense, and it’s up to Daugherty and assistant captain Sam Roitblat to find ways to unlock it.
EW: Personally, I think the biggest challenge Bowling Green has to overcome is stagnation. Trevor, you said that the team you saw at WCVII wasn’t the team Ball State played at the Regional Championship, but I have to argue that point. Not only was it the exact team in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. as it was at Midwest Cup, it was the exact team we all saw make the miracle underdog run at WCVI in Kissimmee, Fla. BGSU stuck by the exact system that almost led it to a Midwest Regional Championship two years ago, keeping all teams in snitch range by keeping games low scoring. Come fall of 2013, BGSU was blessed by an early Regional Championship where it could use its familiarity with its old system to take advantage of less organized teams. At WCVII, BGSU faltered for the first time as the team faced the dynamic improvements made by the IQA as a whole over the winter. If BGSU doesn’t adapt either game strategy or practices, it won’t be able to keep its games in snitch range enough to have Roitblat carry the team out of as many games as he has had to in the last couple of years.
