KEENE, N.H. – Keene State College Varsity Esports wrapped up its first full week of competition during the week of October 20th, going a combined 5-1 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: Rese scored first in the series, as they gave Keiser a 1-0 lead at 0:50, assisted by mkjulian1. Mkjulian1 scored themselves shortly after, assisted by Rese, at 1:07, to give Keiser a 2-0 lead. Alex "normal" Nimiroski scored Keene State's first goal of the series at 2:00, assisted by Andrew "Aurorxs" Sorcinelli. KU responded right away as BeastStriker8 scored at 2:12 to grant Keiser a 3-1 lead. This lead persisted for the majority of the remainder of regulation until normal scored a second time at 4:41 to bring the game within one goal. Keiser managed to hold, however, and won game one by a score of 3-2, taking a 1-0 series lead.
 
Game 2: Keiser scored first yet again as BeastStriker8 hit at 0:27. Rese contributed their second goal of the series at 1:13 to extend KU's lead to 2-0. Normal scored an unassisted goal at 1:52 to bring the game within one score, and he scored a second time at 2:21, tying the game. Aurorxs knocked in his first goal of the series at 3:57 to give the Owls a 3-2 lead that they would take to the end of regulation, tying the series at one win a piece.
 
Game 3: The third game would be by far the most offensive of the series. Normal opened the scoring at 0:47, assisted by Jack "Jackattack16000" Manning. Rese, just ten seconds later, scored for KU and tied the game. Normal scored yet again at 1:18 to retake the lead for Keene State. Normal scored a third time at 1:50 to extend KSC's lead to 3-1. The lead would be brought down within one goal again as Mkjulian1 scored at 2:31. Normal scored his fourth goal in less than three minutes as he nailed an unassisted shot at 2:53 to bring KSC's lead to 4-2. Off of the next kickoff, Aurorxs gave KSC a 5-2 lead at 2:59. Jackattack contributed his first goal of the series for KSC, with one minute and eight seconds remaining. Mkjulian1 scored KU's final goal of the game at 4:23, bringing Keene State's lead down to 6-3. KSC held the lead through the end of regulation, taking a 2-1 series lead.
 
Game 4: The Owls would be held scoreless in game four as all three Keiser players peppered in goals throughout regulation: BeastStriker8 at 1:20, Rese at 2:54 and Mkjulian1 at 4:57. KU would win game three 3-0 and tie the series at 2-2.
 
Game 5: In an ultra-intense final game of the series, both teams held one another scoreless for over three and a half minutes until Keiser broke through at 3:39, as Rese scored an unassisted goal to give KU a 1-0 lead. This would go on to be the only goal scored in the game; KU would win 1-0 and take the series 3-2, knocking KSC Varsity Rocket League to 3-3 on the season.
 
What's next: KSC Varsity Rocket League closes out their regular season on Tuesday October 28th in a pivotal matchup against the 3-2 University of South Florida at 7 PM.
 
KSC Rocket League Academy Red played two games this week, on Monday and Tuesday night versus the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Grace College respectively.

Vs. New Jersey Institute of Technology
 
Game 1: Keene State got on the board early as Ryan "Dreamz" Morrison scored at 0:17, assisted by Aidan "Maudlu" Law. Maudlin himself chipped in an unassisted goal at 1:09 to put KSC up 2-0, and immediately again off of the next kickoff to give the Owls a 3-0 lead at 1:12. NJIT's Kaivr scored NJIT's first goal at 2:00 to bring the lead down to two; however Keene State responded right away with a goal at 2:13 by Dreamz, his second of the game. Team captain Eric "Twisty9" Carlo extended KSC's lead to 5-1 with a goal at 3:20, assisted by Maudlu. This would go on to be the final score as the Owls took a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2: After a hot first game, Maudlu struck first for KSC with a goal at 0:14. Dreamz, at 1:56, extended the lead to 2-0 as he scored a goal assisted by Maudlu. Maudlu scored yet again at 2:24, this time assisted by Dreamz; this would be the final goal of the game as the entire second half was scoreless for both teams. KSC would win game 2 by a score of 3-0 and go up 2
 
Game 3: Extending from the second half of game two, game three was tied 0-0 for the first nearly three minutes. The stalemate was broken by Keene State as Dreamz scored an unassisted goal at 2:54. Dreamz would score a second goal at 3:21, assisted by Maudlu. At 3:42, NJIT brought their deficit down to just one goal as Kaivr scored, assisted by Itztcalt. The Owls would hold on to their lead and win the game, along with the series in a 3-0 sweep.

Vs. Grace College
 
Game 1: Twisty9 got KSC on the board first with a solo goal at 0:48 to put the Owls up 1-0. Shortly after, Grace scored at 1:02 to tie the game, assisted by Yawyo. The game would remain tied for the next three and a half minutes until Twisty9 scored his second goal of the game at 4:32 to put KSC up 2-1 with 28 seconds remaining. KSC were able to ice the remaining time and win the first game to go up 1-0.
 
Game 2: Keene State came out swinging right away as Dreamz scored right off of the kickoff, and Maudlu replicated Dreamz goal as he scored off the ensuing kickoff at 0:05 to put the Owls up 2-0 within the first five seconds of game time. Maudlu tacked on the third goal of the game for KSC at 0:34 to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Grace would begin to claw back as Revan scored at the 2:24 mark. Ultimate_12 scored Grace's second goal at 2:59 to bring it within one score as the Owls held a 3-2 lead. With just 29 seconds remaining, Grace would tie the game as Ultimate_12 scored a second time. The 3-3 tie carried into sudden-death overtime where Dreamz sealed the second game with an unassisted goal one minute and 24 seconds into the period to give KSC a 2-0 series lead.
 
Game 3: Game three remained scoreless for almost three minutes until Maudlu scored at 2:42 to put KSC up 1-0. Twisty9 added a second goal at 3:53 to extend the lead to two. Ultimate_12 got Grace College back within one as they scored at 4:06, assisted by Yawyo. With just 15 seconds remaining, Revan scored to tie the game, and this 2-2 score would send the series to its second straight sudden-death overtime. After two minutes and 24 seconds, Revan would score their second straight goal and grant Grace a come from behind win by a score of 3-2 to keep the series alive.
 
Game 4: Grace struck first blood as Yawyo scored by 1:35, assisted by Revan, and Dreamz tied the game at 2:40, assisted by Twisty9. Grace retook the lead at 3:48 as Ultimate_12 scored off an assist by Revan. Yoyo would score a goal of their own at 4:03 to suddenly give Grace College a 3-1 lead with less than a minute remaining. The Owls were unable to respond, and Grace added in one more goal as time expired, with Revan nabbing the score, assisted by Ultimate_12, winning 4-1 and tying the series 2-2.

Game 5: In the series-deciding game five, KSC once again scored first as Dreamz knocked in a goal at 0:36. KSC held a 1-0 lead until Revan tied the game at 2:12. Closing in on the final minute of regulation, Twisty9 retook the lead for the Owls at 3:48, hitting a mid-air "50" against a Grace College player, and knocking it in. Just seconds later after the ensuing kickoff, Ultimate_12 scored for Grace, tying the game at 2-2 with one minute and four seconds remaining. This 2-2 score would carry the game into the third overtime period of the series.  At 1:28, Twisty9 scored the game and series winning goal, redirecting a miss by Maudlu, and giving KSC Rocket League Academy Red their second straight win and bringing their season record to a pivotal 3-3.
 
What's next: KSC Rocket League Academy Red will close out their regular season on Tuesday November 4th at 8:30 PM against Radford University B.
 
KSC Rocket League Academy Black
 
Game 1: Looking to extend their undefeated start to the season, Owen "Slend" Burrill scored first in the series, at 0:28, and he would score a second time at 2:00 to give KSC a 2-0 lead with three minutes remaining. Harrisburg got themselves on the board at 3:06 to bring the game within one goal. Undeterred by this, KSC scored two more goals to ice the game, with Adam "Stylobiko" Albik (4:18) and Slend (04:39) scoring their first and third goals respectively; this gave KSC a 4-1 lead and a 1-0 series lead at the end of regulation.
 
Game 2: Slend opened the game with his fourth goal of the series, scoring unassisted at 1:00 to grant KSC an early 1-0 lead. Stylobiko chipped in his second goal of the series at 1:41, assisted by Slend. As time expired, Sp1ash scored for Harrisburg, and KSC would win 2-1 and take a commanding 2-0 series lead heading into game three.
 
Game 3: After two scoreless minutes to begin game three, Sp1ash scored first to give HU a 1-0 lead. Slend tied the game on behalf of KSC as he scored at 3:42, assisted by Joe "Julio" Aste. The first overtime period of the series followed as both teams carried one goal. Nine seconds into the period, Shade Viper scored for HU and gave them a 2-1 victory, bringing the series lead to 2-1 for KSC.
 
Game 4: Slend scored at 0:29 to put KSC up 1-0, assisted by Julio, and he would score for a second time at 2:16 to extend the lead to 2-0. At 2:23, Slend accomplished a hat trick, as he knocked in his third goal of the game. Julio scored his first goal of the series at 4:08 to put KSC up 4-0 with 52 seconds remaining. Slend continued the offensive explosion, with his fourth goal of the game at 4:18 to extend the lead to 5-0. Sp1ash got HU their first goal of the game at 4:22, but it was simply too late, and the Owls took game four by a 5-1 score, winning the overall series 3-1 and improving to 4-0 on the season.
 
 
What's next: KSC Rocket League Academy Black looks to make it 5-0 on the season as they take on Wilmington College on Tuesday October 28th at 7:00 PM EST.
 
KSC Overwatch were scheduled to battle the Owls of Kennesaw State University on Wednesday night. However, KSU were unable to field a full team and subsequently forfeited, granting KSC a victory and moving them to 2-3 on the season.
 
What's next: KSC Overwatch closes out their regular season against University of Texas - Tyler Blue at 8:20 PM on Wednesday, October 29th; the game will be broadcasted on the official PCL Twitch channel: twitch.tv/PlayVS_College
 
 
Keene State VALORANT
 
Map 1: Corrode
Virginia Commonwealth got off to a hot start on attack, as they won the first two rounds, and the Owls won the following four to take a map lead. VCU won rounds 7 and 8 to bring the score to a 4-4 tie. Both teams traded the next two rounds and a 5-5 was brought into round 11 where the momentum started to swing in favor of KSC. The Owls would win the next four rounds and take a 9-5 lead, and VCU took round 15 to make it a 9-6 game. The Owls would win the following four rounds to win Corrode by a score of 13 rounds to 6, taking a 1-0 series lead. Thomas "Chumbladorfian" Czwakiel led the way for the Owls with 19 kills, followed closely behind by Hayden "H-Bass" Bassett with 18 and Jeremy "yerrei" Giguere with 17.
 
Map 2: Haven
On Haven, the most played map in KSC VALORANT's history, the Owls demonstrated comfort with a decisive 13-1 victory. Starting on defense, Keene State won the first 11 rounds before VCU got on the board with a round 12 win. The Owls would clean up two more rounds on attack to win the map and the series overall 2-0 to improve to 5-0 on the season; the Owls are still yet to lose a map this season. Gavin "Melatonin" PIerce led all players in kills with 18, including a 121 Econ Rating; over 20 points higher than the second highest, which was H-Bass with 98.
 
What's next: KSC VALORANT will play in two games this week: Western Nebraska Community College on Monday, October 27th at 7:00 PM EST. They will then play West Chester University of Pennsylvania at 7:00 PM on Thursday, October 30th at 7:00 PM EST.
 
 
Keene State Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Keene State SSBU were scheduled to face off with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology on October 24th, however the game was moved to October 31st at 9 PM.
 
 
What's next: KSC SSBU will hold a doubleheader on Friday, October 31st; they will compete against the 2-3 Rams of West Chester University of Pennsylvania at 7 PM and then against the 2-2 Harrisburg University of Science and Technology at 9 PM.