KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State Varsity Esports program competed in one game this past week due to a mid-season mini-break. The Overwatch 2 team was the only squad to compete. Varsity Rocket League was slated to compete this week, but had already earned a victory against Fisher College, due to a season forfeiture from the Falcons in September.
Records
How it Happened
Overwatch 2
KSC's Overwatch 2 team (2-0) squared off against the Bulldogs Ferris State University Gold (2-1), looking to build upon their strong season start and improve to 3-0.
Map 1: Control on Illios
Keene State opened up the map running Shea Castriotta "Hotpocket" on Roadhog, Connor Malone "HoodNut" on Genji, Eli Volpini "Goofymcgoob" on Tracer (later Reaper), team captain Korben Robinson "ShadowStorm" on Kiriko and Jack Holderby "Crimgo" on Lucio. Utilizing speed and decisive movement, the Owls continuously trumped pushes from Ferris State, disallowing much momentum to be gained.
The Owls cruised to a quick 2-0 victory on Illios, with Play of the Game going to ShadowStorm on Kiriko, showcasing three final blows while keeping his team alive.
All Owls eclipsed double digit eliminations, with Goofymcgoob leading all players in the match with 19, and Hotpocket led all players in damage dealt, with 7,569.
Map stats (Eliminations/Assists/Deaths)
Hotpocket: 17/4/1
Goofymcgoob: 19/0/2
HoodNut: 15/0/4
Crimgo: 11/14/1
ShadowStorm: 17/14/2
Map 2: Hybrid on Kings Row
Ferris State Gold got to choose the Hybrid map, and selected Kings Row; a map that Keene State has been accustomed to playing. With Matt Bonner "Midas" having substituted in for Hotpocket for Map 2, and Catch Foss "TuT" taking over for Goofymcgoob", Keene State began the map on defense. Ferris State, starting on attack, had 4 minutes to attempt to capture the first point and unlock the payload. After several scrappy teamfights, the Owls managed to full-hold the Bulldogs, meaning that the Bulldogs were held from unlocking the payload within 4 minutes, and, having only captured 97.5% of the point, the Owls had to secure 97.6% of the point on attack to secure the map victory. Individual highlights came from HoodNut, who diverted attention often from Ferris while playing the Damage character Venture, and alongside sturdy tank play from Midas playing Orisa, the Owls were able to both earn space and contest the point, allowing for a full hold to be secured.
On attack, the Owls employed a signature dive competition that was initially stifled by Ferris State for the first few team fights, before Keene State broke through and secured the map victory with 1:50 remaining, moving the best-of-5 series to 2-0 in favor of the Owls.
Map stats (Eliminations/Assists/Deaths)
Midas: 19/1/2
TuT: 17/2/3
HoodNut: 19/2/2
Crimgo: 8/21/3
ShadowStorm: 12/15/3
Map 3: Flashpoint on Suravasa
Entering Map 3, the Owls made some lineup/positional changes for Flashpoint as they had last week. HoodNut switched to support alongside ShadowStorm, replacing CrimsonGhost. Goofymcgoob re-entered the lineup at Damage to couple with TuT, and Midas stayed in at Tank.
The Owls got off to a hot start on point 1 of the first-to-3 map type, taking the flashpoint 100% to 0%. It was at flashpoint 2 that some struggles began to show for the Owls against the brawl composition Ferris State was employing, consisting of D.Va, Symmetra, Cassidy, Brigitte and Kiriko. The Owls lost the next two flashpoints to fall behind 1-2 entering flashpoint 4. The Owls were able to secure the flashpoint and tie the match at 2-2 to go to a final round following a sensational ultimate combination between Midas using Zarya's Graviton Surge ultimate ability which got immediately followed up by Goofymcgoob using Reaper's Death Blossom ultimate, resulting in Play of the Game for Volpini. Keene State found themselves on the wrong side of the match's ultimate economy once the map-deciding final flashpoint began and were unable to answer the opening Kitsune Rush and B.O.B. ultimates used by Ferris State. Despite some last second eliminations by the Owls, they were unable to break through, losing the final flashpoint 0-100%, dropping their first map of their entire season and sending the series against Ferris Gold to 2-1 in the best of 5.
Map stats (Eliminations/Assists/Deaths)
Midas: 22/5/8
Goofymcgoob: 27/2/7
TuT: 17/2/7
HoodNut: 19/24/9
ShadowStorm: 9/17/7
Map 4: Push on New Queen Street
Having lost Map 3, the Owls moved HoodNut back to Damage, subbed in Hotpocket for Midas to take over Tank duties, and Crimgo moved back to Support as the Owls selected New Queen Street for Map 4. With Hotpocket in as tank on Doomfist, the Owls opted for a pure speed composition to attempt to overwhelm the Bulldogs. Along with Hotpocket, HoodNut selected his signature Genji and Damage counterpart TuT selected Sojourn. Supports Crimgo and ShadowStorm selected Juno and Moira respectively. Lasting just 4 minutes and 50 seconds, the Owls overwhelmed the Bulldogs on New Queen Street and took the map victory. The Owls as a unit managed to die just 11 times, as the Bulldogs had collectively 25 deaths.
Play of the game went to TuT, who capped off a tremendous game as Sojourn as he led all players in eliminations (18) and damage dealt (5,088).
Map stats (Eliminations/Assists/Deaths)
Hotpocket: 17/3/4
TuT: 18/3/2
HoodNut: 14/0/2
Crimgo: 6/9/1
ShadowStorm: 14/10/2
The Owls defeated Ferris State Gold 3-1, to improve to 3-0 on the season, including a 9-1 map record. KSC Overwatch stands at 2nd place behind only UNC Pembroke in Playfly College Esports Varsity Plus East 2 division, who are 4-0.
Up Next
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Monday, October 21 at 7:00 PM vs. UNC Pembroke
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Rocket League Academy: Monday, October 21, at 8:30 PM vs. Wayland Baptist University
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Valorant: Monday, October 21 at 9:00 PM vs. RIT Academy Yellow
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Overwatch 2: Wednesday, October 23, at 7:00 PM vs. RIT Academy
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Rocket League Varsity: Friday, October 25th at 7:00 PM vs. Rowan University Gold
Follow KSC_Esports on social media for more updates!
