KEENE, N.H. – Needing to win to get into the playoffs in their inaugural season, the Keene State College Overwatch 2 team earned a close 3-2 victory over Virginia Wesleyan University to clinch a spot in the NACE Starleague Varsity Plus Divisional Playoffs.
Records
- Keene State: 2-5
- Virginia Wesleyan: 1-6
How it Happened
The first game was Control on Oasis, a map that the Owls have not played on in an official match so far on the season. KSC captured the opening point first, thanks to an elimination from Midas and Hoodnut. The Owls easily captured 100% of the opening objective, as Midas tallied six eliminations, Hoodnut and Tut each tallied three, while Shadowstorm had two and Sweptfive recorded one. After capturing the second point right away, the Owls once again easily captured the second point, picking up the round one win, as Midas logged six eliminations, while Hoodnut had three, Shadowstorm and Tut each had a pair, and Sweptfive had one.
The Marlins opened game two, Hybrid on King's Row, on the attack and they were able to capture the first point in only 70 seconds, and reach the payload objective, just 1:35 later. The Owls temporarily slowed down the Marlins, but they reached the final objective with 3:08 remaining on the clock. On the attack, the Owls easily secured the first objective in 63 seconds, as Midas had three eliminations, and Hoodnut and Tut each had one. The Owls were able to reach both the next and final checkpoints, once time expired, to tie the round up and force overtime. In overtime, VWU ultimately took the round as they secured the point, evening the overall contest up at one apiece.
Game three was Flashpoint on New Junk City and it was all Keene State as they swept the best of five objectives over the Marlins. Hoodnut tallied four eliminations (with Tut also having one), to help the Owls start to secure the first objective, while Tut and Midas each tallied a pair, to go with one from Hoodnut, to help secure the first objective. Two eliminations from Hoodnut and Shadowstorm, along with one from Sweptfive helped get the Owls to 60% on objective two, before VWU was able to secure the point. They only ended up reaching 28% due to Hoodnut eliminating a pair of enemies and resecuring the point for the Owls. The Owls secured the point shortly after, as Hoodnut had two eliminations as Midas, Sweptfive, and Tut also each logged one, giving KSC the 2-0 win in the round. The Owls once again easily secured the third point, getting all 100%, as Hoodnut recorded five eliminations in the final objective in the round, to go with four from Tut, two from Sweptfive, and one from each Midas and Shadowstorm, giving the Owls the 2-1 series advantage.
The Marlins came back to take game four, a Push map on Colosseo, as they took control early and were able to push the objective to 118.66m, and the Owls comeback attempt was too late, as the 10 minutes in the contest expired as they only reached a mark of 68.46m and the teams headed to the final map, tied up at two apiece.
The final map in the contest was Escort on Route 66, as the two teams took turns pushing the payload as far and as quick as possible. The Owls started on the attack, as they reached the first checkpoint in 1:25, as Hoodnut recorded three eliminations, Midas had two, and Tut, Sweptfive, and Shadowstorm each had one. 91 seconds later, the Owls reached the next checkpoint, as Midas led the way with three eliminations, while the rest of their teammates each tallied one over the span. Hoodnut dominated as the Owls were able to reach the final point, as Hoodnut tallied seven eliminations over the 83 seconds that it took to go from the second to final checkpoints, along with a pair of eliminations from Midas, and one from each Tut and Shadowstorm. KSC went all the way with 3:41 remaining on the clock, and then had to defend the Marlins from reaching the end with more time remaining. On defense, the Owls locked down the Marlins, not allowing them to even reach the first checkpoint, as Midas led the way with six eliminations on defense, while Hoodnut was closely behind with five, and Tut and Shadowstorm each tallied four apiece, giving the Owls the 3-2 series win and clinching a playoff spot in their inaugural season.
Up Next
Keene State's next Overwatch 2 matchup will come in the playoffs. There will be more information to come!
The next esports contest for the Owls will be on Wednesday, March 13, at 8:00 PM, as KSC will play Mary Washington University in Rocket League. The Keene State Rocket League team has already qualified for playoffs, so they will be looking to improve their seed with a win.
The Keene State Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will also be looking to qualify for the playoffs, like the Overwatch 2 team and Rocket League teams, as they will next play against Anna Maria College on Thursday, March 14, at 7:00 PM, in a similar win-and-in situation for the playoffs!
