KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State Varsity Esports program went a combined 4-1 over the past week of action, as Overwatch 2 picked up the win in their first contest of the season, joining Valorant and both Rocket League teams with wins.

Records

• Rocket League Varsity: 3-2
• Rocket League Academy: 2-0
• Valorant: 2-0
• Super Smash: 0-2
• Overwatch: 1-0

How it Happened


Rocket League Varsity
 
KSC got above .500 with their 3-0 win over Spring Hill last week. Aidan Law (Maudlu) saw his first action in a contest of the season, as he scored the first goal of game one and the Owls cruised to a 12-1 win over the Badgers. Game two did not come as easy for the Owls, as they still picked up the win, but with a narrow 2-0 victory. After allowing the first goal in game three, KSC responded with four goals in a row and won game three, 7-2, to sweep the Badgers. Eric Carlo (EricKamii) led the Owls with 12 goals over the three games, to go with his six assists and team-high of two saves. Alex Nimiroski (Normal1Land1) finished the series with five goals and a team-high of seven assists, while Law recorded four goals, six assists, and a save.
 
Rocket League Academy
 
The KSC Rocket League Academy team improved to 2-0 to open their season as they picked up a comeback win over the Rochester Institute of Technology (Red). 3-2. KSC secured the win in game one, as Jack Manning (jackattack1600) recorded the only goal in the Owls' 1-0 win. RIT responded right back in game two, as they scored a pair of goals and shut out KSC, to tie the series up at one apiece. RIT jumped out to a 2-1 series lead after they won game three, 3-2, after scoring a goal in the final minute of the game. On the verge of losing their first contest of the season, the Owls won 4-0 in game four to tie the series up at two and force a winner-take-all game five. RIT jumped out to a 1-0 lead by scoring a goal 1:06 into the five minutes of the round, but Manning evened it up by scoring a goal for KSC with 3:24 left in the final round. After neither team scored the rest of regulation, the contest went to sudden-death overtime, with the next goal not only winning the round, but winning the series. As the time reached a minute into the overtime period, Ryan Morrison (ExtrmDreamz) had a shot on goal that went off the crossbar and fell right to Adam Albik (Stylobiko.), who buried the rebound into the back of the net to give KSC the 2-1 game win and 3-2 series win over the Tigers. Manning led the Owls in goals and saves in the series, with six goals and eight saves. Albik recorded a pair of goals, three assists, and two saves, while Morrison tallied a goal to go with his three assists and six saves.
 
Super Smash Bros
 
The KSC Smash team returned to action, looking to pick up their first win of the year against Camden County College, but they would come close in the first round, but ultimately lose the first and second rounds in the best of three to the Tigers. In the first game, Tyler Adkins (Tadpole) and Jackson Schimpf (Jackabot27) each took a stock from the first member of the Cougar's team, as CCC had 10 stocks remaining to six from KSC. The Owls' captain, Aidan Zimmer (Sour), was up next and he was able to take seven stocks from the Cougars, before he lost all of his three to their final player as both teams were down to their last player with three stocks apiece. Leo Tufts was up last for KSC and he was able to take one stock from CCC, but their last member was able to take all three of his stocks and win round one with a pair of stocks remaining. In game two, Tufts led off for the Owls and took two stocks from CCC before he lost his three. Zimmer followed Tufts and took three stocks between the first and second Cougar, across the time where he lost his three stocks, as CCC held a narrow 7-6 stock lead over the Owls. Adkins was able to take the final stock from the Cougar's second member, but then would lose all of his three stocks and Schimpf lost all of his three shortly after, as the Cougars won game two with six stocks remaining and won the series, 2-0 over the Owls.
 
Valorant
 
After picking up their first win in program history last week, the Owls were prepared to face off against Stone Child College, but due to a forfeit from SCC, Keene State moved to 2-0 with the free win on the day.
 
Overwatch 2
 
The KSC Overwatch 2 team kicked off their 2024 fall season against the DePaul JV (White) team for their first contest, after the Owls opened their season on a bye for week one. In map one, Control on Ilios, KSC easily secured the first two control points to win the best of three series, without allowing the Blue Demons to secure a point at all. Connor Malone (HoodNut) led the Owls with nine eliminations, while Shea Castriotta (Hotpocket) and Jackson Holderby (Crimgo), were closely behind with seven and six eliminations, respectively. Map two was Hybrid on King's Row and the Owls cruised to a victory over DePaul. KSC was on defense first and allowed the Blue Demons to gain a point and reach 63.84m with the payload. When it was the Owls' turn to attack, KSC was able to secure the first point and surpass the payload mark set by DePaul with ease to pick up the map two win, giving KSC a 2-0 lead in the best of five series. Map three was Push on Colosseo and KSC won the map, nearly as easily as the other two, as they pushed the point to the goal in six minutes, with little resistance from the Blue Demons. Castriotta recorded nine eliminations, while Catch Foss (TuT) recorded eight in what was the final map in the series, as the Owls picked up the 3-0 series sweep over DePaul.
 
 
Up Next

• Rocket League Varsity: Monday, October 7, at 8:00 PM vs. Stony Brook
• Rocket League Academy: Monday, October 7, at 8:30 PM vs. Neumont B
• Valorant: Monday, October 7, at 9:00 PM vs. Colorado School of Mines (Challenger)
• Super Smash: Thursday, October 10, at 8:15 PM vs. RIT (Gray)
• Overwatch 2: Wednesday, October 9, at 7:00 PM vs. Eastern Michigan (B)

 
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