KEENE, N.H. – Following a successful 2024-25 campaign including two undefeated regular seasons, a championship victory, and numerous national playoff berths, Keene State College Varsity Esports is set to embark on its second full school year as a program beginning this week.
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 final 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 OVERWATCH 2
Overwatch 2 is a first-person shooter game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Including a cast of over 40 characters known as Heroes, the 5 versus 5 game includes three main roles that must be played in every game: 1 tank, 2 damage and 2 support heroes. Both teams of five compete against one another in various objective-based game modes where coordination is required to succeed. In PCL competition, KSC Overwatch competes in a best-of-five series each week.
Keene State Overwatch 2 will kick off the Owls' Esports season this Wednesday on September 17th vs. Alvernia University. Last year, the Overwatch Owls finished the Fall 2024 season with a 9-0 record, including 6-0 in the regular season, subsequently capturing the Playfly College Esports Varsity Plus 2 Overwatch championship; the first championship in program history.
In the Spring season, KSC Overwatch finished the regular season with a 7-1 record, and made a second appearance in their divisional championship, falling 3-0 to RIT White. The team returns with the same roster as the 2024-2025 school year, with the addition of Emily "DeathKitteh" Percy (Support, Newington, Connecticut).
KSC Overwatch takes on the Golden Wolves at 7:00 PM EST on Wednesday.
Overwatch 2 Roster
Tank - Matt "Midas" Bonner - Junior/5th Season
Tank - Shea "Hotpocket" Castriotta - Junior/3rd Season
Damage - Catch "TuT" Foss - Senior/5th Season
Damage - Connor "HoodNut" Malone - Senior/5th Season
Damage - Eli "Goofymcgoob" Volpini - Sophomore/3rd Season
Support - Korben "ShadowStorm" Robinson (c) - Ana - Senior/5th Season
Support - Jack "Bladeefan2004" Holderby - Junior/5th Season
Support - Emily "DeathKitteh" Percy - First-Year
Coaching Staff
Coach: Noah "Endy" Drouin '20 - 5th Season
Coach: Mike "Coldfire' Godzik '20 - 5th Season
KEENE STATE ROCKET LEAGUE
Rocket League is a soccer-inspired game developed by Psyonix. Within the game, players utilize cars to maneuver a soccer ball into their opponent's goal. In PCL matches, KSC Rocket League teams compete in a 3 versus 3 format in a best of five series.
KSC's Rocket League program has expanded to three rosters, boasting nine student-athletes across three rosters: Varsity, Academy Red and Academy Black. Competing in the Premier division last season, KSC Varsity Rocket League finished the Fall 2024 with a 6-3 regular season record and advancing to the semifinals after an 4-1 upset win over Washington State Crimson. They eventually fell to Robert Morris University Blue 4-2.
In Spring 2025, Varsity Rocket League finished with a 2-4 regular season schedule, good enough to advance to the Premier playoff bracket yet again. In the quarterfinals they were defeated by Ferris State University Crimson.
KSC Varsity Rocket League opens their season this Thursday, September 17th vs. George Mason at 7 PM.
Varsity Roster
Alexander "normal" Nimiroski - Junior/5th Season
Andrew "Aurorxs" Sorcinelli - Senior/3rd Season
Jack "Jackattack16000" Manning - Sophomore/3rd Season
New to KSC Esports in Fall 2024 was Rocket League Academy, slated to play a division below the Varsity team. In its first regular season of play, Rocket League Academy finished 6-0, joining Overwatch 2 as the first undefeated regular seasons in program history. Earning a first round BYE in their Playfly Varsity Plus playoff bracket, the team would fall to UToledo Gold in a 4-3 series. In the Spring 2025 season, the Academy Rocket League team finished 1-6, advancing to their divisional playoff bracket. The Owls would lose to Lethbridge Polytechnic 4-2 in the quarterfinal.
With the addition of two new recruits to the KSC Rocket League program, Joe "Julio" Aste and Owen "Slend" Burrill, the program has once again expanded and a second Academy team has been created. The two Academy Rocket League teams are designated for PCL Ranked play, and will be known as Red and Black respectively. Rocket League Academy Red and Black will begin their seasons on Tuesday, 9/23 against opponents to be announced on September 19th.
Academy Red Roster
Eric "Twisty9" Carlo (c) - Senior/5th Season
Ryan "Dreamz" Morrison - Junior/3rd Season
Aidan "Maudlu" Law - Senior/5th Season
Academy Black Roster
Adam "Stylobiko" Albik - Sophomore/3rd Season
Owen "Slend" Burrill - First-Year
Joe "Julio" Aste - First-Year
Coaching Staff
Kevin "Coach Kev" McDermot - 5th Season
Thomas "TeeKay" LaPointe - 5th Season
KEENE STATE VALORANT
VALORANT is a 5 versus 5 tactical first person shoot published by Riot Games. The game's main objective pits both teams in games where both teams alternate planting and defusing a device known as a Spike. In PCL competition KSC VALORANT competes in best-of-three matches.
Introduced in Fall, Keene State VALORANT was the first new roster and title to be added following Esports' inaugural season in Spring 2024. In its first season of competition, KSC VALORANT finished 4-3 in the regular season, earning a playoff berth. In the quarterfinal, the squad defeated Coffeyville Community College 2-0 before meeting Cal State Dominguez Hills in the semifinals, losing 2-0.
The Spring 2025 season was met with more success for KSC VALORANT, who improved upon their initial season with a 6-2 record. The Owls met Iona University Maroon in their playoff quarterfinal, winning 2-0. In the semifinal match, they were defeated by DePaul University 2-1 in an intensely close series. Losing in this round allowed the Owls to compete for the 3rd place spot in their conference, and they earned so by defeating RIT Academy Red 2-0 on April 22nd.
KSC VALORANT returns all student-athletes from last season, with the addition of recruits Gavin "Melatonin" Pierce (Flash Initiator, Holliston, MA) and Hayden "H-Bass" Bassett (Sentinel, Vergennes, VT). The team will open their PCL season on Thursday, September 25th at 7 PM against an opponent to be announced on September 19th.
Controller - Hailey "HMeesh" Michaud (c) - Junior/3rd Season
Recon Initiator - Jeremy "yerrei" Giguere - Junior/3rd Season
Flash Initiator - Nathan "ShotgunFreak67" Ruangturakid - Sophomore/3rd Season
Sentinel - Ysa "YsaHolmes" Arezzo - Sophomore/3rd Season
Sentinel - Sheldom "redblast" Vasquez - Sophomore/3rd Season
Duelist - Thomas "Chumbladorfian" Czwakiel - Junior/3rd Season
Flash Initiator - Gavin "Melatonin" Pierce -First-Year
Sentinel - Hayden "H-Bass" Bassett - First-Year
Coach
Sam "Camel" Khalil - 1st Season
KEENE STATE SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE
Super Smash Bros. (Ultimate) is a platforming fighting game published by Nintendo. The main objective of the game is to damage one's opponent enough to send their character off of the platform (or stage), which eliminates a life (known as a stock). In PCL competition, the KSC Smash Bros. team competes in a format known as Crew Battles; a format where teams of four share a total of 12 stocks, and players from both teams take turns battling in a series of 1 on 1 fights. The team to lose all 12 of their stocks first is declared the loser of that game. This format is contested in a "best of three".
Keene State SSBU finished the regular season 3-5 in Fall 2024, narrowly missing out on a playoff berth within their Playfly division. The Owls were able to qualify for Spring 2025 postseason play after posting a 3-5 record, losing 2-0 to the Dragons of Tiffin University on March 31st.
The team will open up their season on Friday, September 26th at 7 PM against an opponent to be announced on September 19th.
KSC SSBU Roster
Aidan "Sour" Zimmer (c)
Tyler "Tadpole" Adkins
Brody "ph4r0h" Freehling
Matthew "squidman" Silvestri
Jackson "Jackabot27" Schimpf
Coach
Aleksey "Noble" Wirth '23 - 5th Season
