Standout Performances: Week Seven

Week seven saw the Austin Outlaws keep their hope for a divisional crown alive and the Detroit Innovators complete a franchise first and sweep a SuperSeries. Which players stood out amongst the excitement?

Jay Stewart — Austin Outlaws (C)
For the second consecutive weekend for the Austin Outlaws, chaser Jay Stewart earned his place in the list of standout performances. He also takes home MLQ Player of the Week honors for his 13 goals, six assists, and zero turnovers against the San Antonio Soldados, his former team. It is difficult to imagine that the Outlaws would have been able to complete the turnaround that they have completed without Stewart. He scored four goals in a row and closed the game with an assist to come back from a deficit in game one. He has simply stepped up in big moments and delivered on the promise of his offensive game in a brand new system. He has a knack for the clutch and he is the single biggest reason that Austin still has a chance to extend their unbroken streak of South Division titles. Honorable mention goes to seeker John Alvarez, who now has five flag runner catches in nine games. 

Kristopher De La Fuente — San Antonio Soldados (B)
Playing long minutes and key shifts with new beating partner Milena Sousa, beater Kristopher De La Fuente had his best series of the season, offering the perfect balance of chaos and control for the Soldados offense. He finished with a second-best plus/minus of +7, behind only Sousa, and four stops, tied with Sousa. During a weekend when beater Daniel Williams struggled — at times, it was the San Antonio offense not playing up to speed and missing windows, and, other times, it was fatigue and uncharacteristic mistakes — De La Fuente stepped up and helped guarantee the Soldados an all-important game two win. With the victory, San Antonio controls its own destiny for the South Division title heading into a clinching weekend versus the New Orleans Curse.

Emily Frollo — Boston Forge (C)
Chaser Emily Frollo was cooking for the Boston Forge this weekend. She scored four goals and added three assists playing on the lightning-fast second line with fellow veteran chaser Emily Hickmott, who notched four goals herself, and new addition Sena Morimoto, who dished 10 assists. Frollo provides width in transition and plays a pivotal part in moving the zone and disorganizing the defense with her ballhandling and shooting in the half court. It has been a joy to watch her take her talents to MLQ after years of competing at a high level in the USQ college and club divisions for RPI and the Boston Pandas, respectively. She helps make the Forge a legitimate title contender this season. 

Bryan Mulcahy — Washington Admirals (C)
Chaser Bryan Mulcahy led the Washington Admirals — and the entire series — in scoring for the second time this season. He tallied eight goals in his return to the city of Boston. He had previously led all players with seven goals against the Charlotte Aviators, and he currently sits ninth in the league in goals. The transformation is remarkable, as Mulcahy initially cut his teeth in MLQ as a stalwart defender for the Forge, and he has now blossomed into a multi-dimensional offensive threat. It is a great story for any young chaser or keeper who is fighting for minutes and hoping to play a larger role on offense someday. Mulcahy has earned his opportunities and he has delivered for the Admirals.

Brooke Smiley — Detroit Innovators (B)
Emphatically validating her appearance as an MLQ Player to Watch, beater Brooke Smiley put up huge numbers in the North Division SuperSeries, the final regular season matches of the year for the Detroit Innovators. She finished with nine stops, second most of any Innovators beater behind beater Ryan Hsu, and she had a team-high plus/minus of +25 on the weekend. The tally included a plus/minus of +21 against the Cleveland Riff, third best in a single series this season behind Adrian Koretsky (WAS) and Tad Walters (CHI). On the season, she is also third in plus/minus league-wide right now, slotting in behind Walters and Max Havlin (BOS). With hard work and the opportunity to compete, she has placed herself in the conversation among the best beaters in the sport. 

Ben Zimet — Minneapolis Monarchs (C)
Chase Ben Zimet makes so many things go for the Minneapolis Monarchs in the quadball game. While the Monarchs have been led by their deep beating corps in 2024, Zimet deserves credit for the hustle and smarts they have been bringing on and off the ball. A Macalester College product, Zimet burst onto the scene last season and they have battled through tough matchups early in the 2024 for Minneapolis. They had a relatively modest two goals and three assists against the Detroit Innovators, but they made their impact felt throughout the weekend by directing traffic and calling for screens at the point. They have four goals and 10 assists on the season, providing much-needed quickness and passing vision.

Taylor Freeman — Cleveland Riff (C)
One of the best storylines of the season was the sudden emergence of chaser Taylor Freeman as a scorer in the final series of the summer for the Cleveland Riff. A second-year player who had not scored for the Riff despite playing in all six games, Freeman exploded for six goals against the Minneapolis Monarchs, a tough defensive squad with one of the top beating corps in the league. Freeman repeatedly found the lane and drilled his shots, proving that he could excel on the MLQ stage and laying the foundation for a third-year jump if he returns to the team. All the athletic tools are there for a chaser like Freeman, and it’s always exciting to see a complicated game like quadball click in real time for a new player. 

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