KEENE, N.H. – Keene State College Varsity Esports wrapped up its first full week of competition during the week of October 6th, going a combined 5-2 across its six teams. 
Keene State Esports is a Varsity member of PlayVS College League (PCL). Formerly known as Playfly College Esports, PCL is one of the largest governing bodies of collegiate esports competition in the world. PCL sanctions competitions from colleges and universities across the United States and Canada, awarding scholarship money and hardware to successful teams each season (Fall and Spring). 
 
KSC Esports teams compete in a regular season schedule and a playoff bracket, if they qualify. Divisions of play are divided into two categories: Premier and Ranked, with Premier being the highest level of play PCL offers. Premier competition includes scholarships and in-person end-of-season tournaments (known as LAN's). KSC's Varsity Rocket League and Overwatch 2 teams are designated for PCL Premier while KSC VALORANT, Academy Red and Black, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will compete in PCL Ranked.


All KSC Esports games are streamed on Twitch, at twitch.tv/KeeneStateEsports and twitch.tv/KeeneStateEsports2, as well as KSC Athletics' official YouTube page youtube.com/@keenestateowls1909.
 
Keene State Rocket League
 
KSC Varsity Rocket League 
Game 1:
Fisher drew first blood in the series with a goal at 1:10, and KSC responded in kind at 1:55 with an unassisted goal by Andrew "Aurorxs" Sorcinelli. Off the next kickoff, Fisher scored once again, this time by Ahdum, assisted by Royales. Roayles then scored themself at 2:35, to bring the game to 3-1 in favor of Fisher. Alex "normal" Nimiroski scored off an assist by Aurorxs at 2:47 to bring the game within one goal. With just 38 seconds of regulation left, Jack "Jackattack16000" Manning tied the game, assisted by Aurorxs. Fisher, however, stifled the comeback attempt with a goal by fLs with 16 seconds left to bring the final score 4-3 with Fisher taking the win. 
 
Game 2:
The Owls opened up the game with an unassisted goal by Aurorxs at 0:53. KSC held a 1-0 lead until 1:42 when Ahdum tied the game for Fisher. KSC then traded back another score as Jackattack nailed an unassisted shot to give KSC a 2-1 lead halfway through the game. At 2:51, Royales scored off an assist by Ahduhm to tie the game at two a piece. Fisher took their first lead of the game at 3:01 as fLS scored, assisted by Ahduhm. The game was tied once again with just 50 seconds left as Aurorxs, assisted by normal, thanks to an accidental "own-goal" by Royales attempting a save in-net. The 3-3 tie persisted throughout the final minute, until Ahduhm broke through with a goal-taking score with just 12 seconds left. The Owls were unable to respond in time and Fisher took the game by another 4-3 score to bring their series lead to 2-0.
 
 
Game 3:
Fisher struck immediately off of a kickoff goal by Ahduhm to take a 1-0 lead. At 1:27, normal tied the game up for KSC with a goal assisted by Jackattack. Fisher responded with another goal, this time by fLS, to take a 2-1 lead with 3:05 remaining. At this point, both squads put on a defensive clinic as neither team scored for the final three minutes of regulation. Fisher, holding a 2-1 lead, would win the game and therefore the series with a 3-0 line.
 
What's next: KSC Varsity Rocket League takes on the 0-4 Northwest Vista College on Tuesday, October 14th at 7 PM EST.
 
KSC Rocket League Academy Red battled Northern Michigan University on Tuesday evening. 
 
Game 1: 
The first game of the series was marked by a near-three minute stalemate between both squads that was broken by team captain Eric "Twisty9" Carlo at the 2:54 mark, assisted by Ryan "Dreamz" Morrison. This would be the only goal of the game as KSC held on to a 1-0 lead and took a 1-0 series lead.
 
Game 2:
Game two would start entirely differently from game one, as xxxmoabxxx scored at 0:20 to put NMU up 1-0 early. The Owls would immediately respond back as Aidan "Maudlu" Law drilled in an unassisted goal at 0:34. The teams would once again trade goals in the same order shortly thereafter, as xxxmoabxxx (1:32) and Maudlu (2:17) scored respectively. Dreamz, at 2:23, scored and gave KSC a 3-2 lead. KSC held this lead for the near-entirety of remaining time until xxxmoabxxx, assisted by Mvximus, tied the game with just nine seconds of regulation left. Off the ensuing kickoff, NMU would stun the Owls, scoring with four seconds remaining, by Mvximus. NMU held this newly acquired lead to victory, winning 4-3 and tying the series 1-1.
 
Game 3: xxxmoabxxx opened the scoring for this game, with a goal at 0:57. NMU held this lead for a substantial amount of time, until Twisty9 got the Owls on the board at 2:54, assisted by Maudlu. Dreamz then followed up with a goal at 3:50 to put KSC up 2-1 with one minute and ten seconds of regulation remaining. NMU showed life, and responded shortly thereafter, brought in by Mvximus at 4:04 to tie the game at 2-2. The 2-2 tie went into sudden-death overtime. 33 seconds into the period, Mvximus would score the game-winning goal to give Northern Michigan a 3-2 victory and a 2-1 series lead.
 
Game 4: The fourth game in the series showcased more defense akin to the first game. Both teams remained scoreless until Twisty9 got KSC on the board first with a goal at 1:24. At 2:09, Maudlin padded the Owls lead with a goal that was assisted by Twisty9. The Owls carried this 2-0 lead for the remaining 2:51 of regulation to win and tie the series 2-2. 
 
Game 5: Dreamz opened the scoring for game five, as he knocked in a long goal across the entirety of the playing field at 0:47. After several minutes without either team scoring, Dreamz hit back once again and gave KSC a 2-0 lead at 3:38. NMU showed signs of life as Iota scored with 56 seconds remaining to bring the game within one goal. Twisty9 assured the Owls would hold this late-lead as he scored with 28 seconds remaining to give the Owls a lead of 3-1 that would be the final score. The Owls completed the comeback after being down 2-1 on the series and snagged the 3-2 series lead, improving to 1-2 on the season.
 
What's next: Rocket League Academy Red will take on RIT Black at 8:30 PM on Tuesday, October 14th.
 
KSC Rocket League Academy Black took on St. John's University on Tuesday evening, in their first true matchup of the season, including the debuts of first-year newcomers Joe "Julio" Aste and Owen "Slend" Burrill, along with returning Sophomore Adam "Stylobiko" Albik.
 
Game 1: SJU got the scoring going in this series with a goal by Peanut Farmer at 0:52. Stylobiko would respond and score Academy Black's first goal of the season at 1:26, to tie the game at 1-1. Slend added to KSC's lead with an unassisted goal at 1:58. Julio would also add in a goal of his own at 2:37, assisted by Slend, to bring the lead to 3-1 for KSC. 3-1 went on to be the final score of this game as KSC took a 1-0 series lead.
 
Game 2: KSC continued with the momentum gained during the first game, as Stylobiko scored early, assisted by Sleend at 0:36. The two would trade goals as Slend scored a Stylobiko-assisted goal at 1:21 to give KSC a 2-0 lead. Stylobiko scored his second goal of the game at 2:46, assisted by Julio. FrostedGas got St. John's on the board at 2:28, bringing the score to 3-1. KSC expanded their lead to 4-1 at 3:09 as Stylobiko earned a hat trick, scoring his third goal of the game, once again off a pass by Slend. This 4-1 score would be the final as KSC moved to match point in the series.
 
Game 3: Stylobiko got the Owls on the board first once again, with a Slend-assisted goal at 1:25. Slend then scored at 3:17, assisted by Julio, to get KSC to a 2-0 lead. SJU prevented the shutout as FrostedGas scored at 4:19, but the Owls held onto their lead and took the third game 2-1 to shut out SJU 3-0 in the series.
 
What's next: KSC Rocket League Academy Black takes on the University of Cincinnati Rocket League Z at 7:00 PM on Tuesday October 14th. 
 
KSC Overwatch was slated to take on The College of New Jersey on Wednesday evening. However, TCNJ were unable to field a full roster for the scheduled start time and were administratively forfeited. KSC Overwatch improves to 1-2 on the season.
 
What's next: KSC Overwatch takes on The University of Cincinnati at 8:20 PM on Wednesday October 15th; this game will be streamed on the official PCL channel: twitch.tv/PlayVS_College
 
Keene State VALORANT
KSC VALORANT, after an impressive double 13-0 victory over King University last week, took on RIT Academy Lime on Thursday night.
 
Map 1: Haven
 The Owls made decisive work of RIT on Map 1, as they combined for 60 kills and 16 deaths, winning all 13 rounds without losing any in the process, which elongated their streak of flawless map victories to three in a row dating back to last week. First-years Gavin "Melatonin" Pierce and Hayden "H-Bass" Bassett led all players with 15 kills a piece. 

Map 2: Lotus
Keene State kept their foot on the gas on Lotus, as they would win the first 10 rounds of the map. RIT would momentarily halt the momentum of the Owls as they won round 11 on attack, to bring the game to a 10-1 lead for KSC. This round loss snapped KSC's streak of 49 straight round victories to start their 2025-26 season. KSC rebounded in the ensuing rounds, and won the next three to secure a 13-1 map victory on Lotus, and winning the series 2-0 in the process. This victory moves KSC VALORANT to a 2-0 record this season with a dominant 52-1 map count. Jeremy "yerrei" Giguere led all players with 20 kills, and the Owls combined for 67 kills and 25 deaths. 
 
What's next: KSC VALORANT looks to add to their hot start as they take on the 3-1 Butler University JV team on Thursday, October 16th at 7 PM.
 
Keene State Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Keene State SSBU held two games this past week, against St. John's University on Friday evening, and Norwich University on Sunday afternoon.
 
Friday 10/10 vs. St. John's University
Match 1: KSC led off with Jackson "Jackabot27" Schimpf as Steve versus St. John's first player, who selected Corrin. The two players traded eliminations off stage, with Corrin coming out on top with one stock, giving SJU a 10-9 lead as KSC sent in their second player, Tyler "Tadpole" Adkins, who took Corrin's final stock, and losing one himself in the process. SJU's second player selected Ness, who took Tadpole's two remaining stocks without losing one, giving SJU a 9-6 stock lead. KSC's next player was Brody "ph4roh" Freehling as Min Min, who took two of Ness's stocks and lost all three of theirs. With a 7-3 deficit, KSC's captain Aidan "Sour" Zimmer entered as Falco. Sour defeated Ness and retained all three stocks to bring the score to 6-3 in favor of SJU. St. John's final player selected Ridley, and three-stocked Sour, securing a 6-0 victory for SJU in the best-of-three series.
 
Match 2:
For match 2, the Owls led off with Matthew "Squidman" Silvestri as Mario, and SJU sent out their Ridley player. Squidman emerged victorious, taking all three of Ridley's stocks and maintaining one to give KSC a 10-9 lead. SJU's next player selected Kirby. With one stock remaining, Squidman succeeded in taking a stock off of Kirby before being fully eliminated, bringing the score to 9-8 in favor of KSC. Player two for Keene State was Jackabot as Steve. Jackabot took away Kirby's final two stocks; the final moments had both players falling off the stage at the same time, and Jackabot would pivotally lose a stock as he won the match, resulting in a 8-6 advantage for KSC. The third player for SJU selected Ken, and defeated Jackabot, taking two stocks and keeping all three of theirs, tying the game 6-6. Next for the Owls was ph4r0h as Min Min. Ph4r0h swung momentum back in KSC's favor by playing tough, and took Ken's remaining stocks, losing just one in the process and giving KSC a 5-3 stock lead. 

SJU's final player selected Mii Sword Fighter. Ph4r0h took one stock from Mii Sword Fighter before being fully eliminated; this set up KSC captain Sour to come in with a 3-2 stock advantage in the final game in match 2. Sour, as Piranha Plant entered and lost two stocks to Mii Sword fighter, which brought the game to a 2-1 advantage for SJU. Sour responded with an elimination with 40% damage taken, tying the game yet again and at one stock a piece for both teams. A back and forth battle ensued, and MIi Sword Fighter emerged with the victory, securing an extremely close 1-0 match victory for SJU and winning the entire series 2-0.

This loss brought the Owls' season record to 1-1. 
 
Sunday 10/12 vs. Norwich University
Match 1:
The Owls led off with Jackabot as Steve in match one, and Norwich led off with their first player as Pokémon Trainer. NU took an early lead as they eliminated Jackabot's first stock. Jackabot would respond immediately and take Pokémon Trainer's first stock without taking damage, tying the game. Jackabot would then take the final two stock's from Pokémon Trainers and grant the Owls a 11-9 lead. Player two for Norwich selected Sephiroth. Sephiroth took an early stock from Jackabot, however Jackabot recovered and took all three stocks from Norwich's second player, staying alive and bringing the Owls to a 10-6 lead. Norwich's third player selected Inkling. Jackabot took one stock from Inkling before being eliminated. With the score at 9-5, KSC sent in Squidman as Mario. Inkling took one stock from Squidman, and Squidman took the two stocks Inkling had left to give the Owls a comfortable 8-3 stock lead as Norwich's final player entered as Samus. Samus was able to take a stock off of Squidman, but Squidman maintained composure and took all three of Samus's stocks, securing a 7-0 victory for KSC in match 1.
 
Match 2: 
Keene State once again led off this match with Jackabot as Steve, and Norwich led with Piranha Plant. After trading one stock each, Jackabot defeated Piranha plant, taking their last two stocks. Norwich's next player selected Inkling and took another of Jackabot's stocks, and Jackabot managed to take all three of theirs, giving the Owls a 10-6 stock lead. Next for NU was their Sephiroth player, and while holding just one stock, Jackabot managed to three-stock Norwich's third player, giving the Owls a 10-3 lead. Jackabot would amazingly do this a third time, as Norwich's final player came in as Samus. Jackabot took all three stocks and, for the first time in program history, solo-swept a team for KSC SSBU, winning the match 10-0 for the Owls and the overall series 2-0 to bring their record to 2-1 on the season.
 
What's next: KSC SSBU will battle Radford University C on Friday, October 17th at 7 PM.