Chicago and Minneapolis renew rivalry in Lakes Division opener

Chicago and Minneapolis open the Lakes Division with more baggage than any first-week matchup should have. Chicago is still carrying the identity of the Indianapolis Intensity, relocated to Chicago in 2023 but rooted in Major League Quadball’s inaugural 2015 season, while Minneapolis arrives with a more settled roster and the kind of continuity that usually survives a long summer.

That history is why this rivalry still feels like a division hinge. Chicago’s organization says the franchise has reached three MLQ Championship finals and won seven North Division titles, while Minneapolis finished 9-3 in 2025 and stood as the North’s top seed in 2024. The league’s standings also flatter both clubs a little, since Chicago and Minneapolis each picked up three 65-0 wins over Toronto after the Raiders ended their season early, a reminder that not every record line tells the same story.

The most recent on-field look came in Rochester, Minnesota, where a June 6 exhibition replaced Minneapolis’ canceled series with Toronto. The Monarchs got the official forfeit win when Toronto backed out, then took the exhibition against Chicago’s practice-squad-heavy group, which featured mostly Chicago Meowstars players and younger franchise athletes. Chicago entered that game with only 10 active players, but rookie Kevin Fantozzi still led the way with four goals, using positioning and pump fakes to create clean looks. Ariana Zhang disrupted possession by forcing bad passes, Jemil Hunter brought the same kind of pressure from the defensive side, and head coach Tad Walters got useful minutes out of a roster that was patched together for the day.

That is the key question entering the real Lakes Division opener: which version matters more, the exhibition Chicago or the full-strength Prowl? MLQ builds 30-player rosters each spring and announces them in early May, so the difference between a practice look and a true weekend lineup can be enormous. Minneapolis looks better built for the long season because it already has a working core and a defined identity. Chicago has the bigger historical brand, and Fantozzi’s four-goal burst was a nice sign, but the Prowl still have to prove that a relocated franchise and a promising young group can hold up once the games count for real.