KEENE, N.H. – All of Keene State College Esports' five teams completed their fourth week of the Spring 2026 season throughout the week of March 9th, going a combined 3-2. 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. For Spring 2026, all five KSC Esports squads are competing within the Ranked designation.
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. Occasionally, games are also streamed on PCL's official Twitch: twitch.tv/PlayVS_College.
Rocket League Varsity
Keene State Varsity Rocket League, with a 5-0 start to their Spring 2026 campaign, looked to keep their momentum rolling in a showdown against University of Wisconsin - Stout on Tuesday evening.
Game 1: The first two minutes went scoreless for both squads until Stout's Alpharay scored the first goal of the series at 2:02 to make it 1-0. The Owls tied it up at 3:21 with a goal by Jack "Jackattack1600" Manning, assisted by team captain Eric "Twisty9" Carlo. This 1-1 tie persisted towards the final moments of regulation when UW Stout's TraeWae52 scored with 10 seconds remaining which ultimately secured a 2-1 victory for the Blue Devils along with a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2: The Owls got off to a hot start with a goal by Andrew "Aurorxs" Sorcinelli just 12 seconds into the game to put KSC up 1-1. A second goal was added on by Jackattack1600 at 2:01. Manning would follow that up with his second score of the game at 2:48 to make it 3-0 KSC. A fourth straight KSC goal was contributed by Twisty9, scoring at 3:08. TrawWae52 knocked in the first Blue Devil score of the game at 3:22, and another by iskRL at 4:49 came in, but it was simply too late as KSC took a 4-2 game victory and tied the series 1-1.
Game 3: Keene State scored first in game three, as Twisty9 got on the board at 1:01. Carlo would score a second time at 2:34 to put the Owls ahead 2-0. Stout's first goal came at 3:18 with a shot by Alpharay that was assisted by TraeWae52. With just 21 seconds remaining, Alpharay scored a game-tying goal off of an assist by TrawWae52. The 2-2 score turned into sudden-death overtime. After one minute and 40 seconds, Stout completed the three-goal comeback as iskRL scored an unassisted goal to grant the Blue Devils a 3-2 game victory and a 2-1 series lead.
Game 4: Both teams didn't allow a goal for the entirety of regulation, which called for a second-straight overtime period; this time the first goal of the game would decide the winner. After 26 seconds, Aurorxs scored an unassisted shot to keep KSC's series alive and force a deciding game five between them and UW-Stout.
Game 5: After minimal offense in game four, the final game of the series started off similarly. A 0-0 stalemate was broken by the Owls as Twisty9 scored at 2:20. Twisty9 scored yet again at 3:03 to give his Keene State squad a critical 2-0 lead with less than two minutes remaining. The Blue Devils responded at 3:30 with a goal by TraeWae52 which closed the gap to just a 2-1 KSC lead. A second straight Stout goal came at 3:43 with a shot by Alpharay, tying it at 2-2. The Owls reasserted a lead at 3:58 with a goal by Jackattack1600, assisted by Twisty9. Aurorxs would then score at 4:38 to make it 4-2. This would go on to be the final score as Keene State grabbed a scrappy 3-2 series victory and improved to 6-0 on the season.
What's next:
Varsity Rocket League looks to join Fall 2024's Overwatch and Rocket League Academy teams as the third undefeated regular season in KSC Esports history. In their way is the University of Central Florida who also stand at 6-0 on the season. The game will take place on Tuesday March 24th at 7 PM.
Rocket League Academy
KSC Rocket League Academy grabbed their first win of the season last week against George Mason Green, and this week took on University of Cincinnati Pink in an effort to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Game 1: The Bearcats scored the first goal of the series at 2:26 as Votik scored assisted by Triple. Triple would then contribute a goal of their own at 3:51 that was unassisted. The Owls scored a crucial kickoff goal immediately after at 3:54 as Joe "Julio" Aste found the net to make it 2-1 in favor of UC. Julio scored his second goal in a row at 4:35 to tie the game up with 25 seconds left in regulation. In sudden-death overtime, Julio scored his third straight goal at 0:34, completing the hat trick and more importantly securing a come-from-behind game one victory for the Owls with a score of 3-2.
Game 2: Aidan "kCrona" Law got the Owls on the scoreboard first this time around as he knocked in a miss by teammate Ryan "Dreamz" Law to put KSC up 1-0 at 0:26. Dreamz peppered in his own goal at 1:57 to bring the score to 2-0. A second Dreamz goal came at 3:02, which made it 3-0 Owls with less than two minutes left. Like his teammate Julio, Dreamz achieved a hat trick off a third straight goal at 4:28, putting the Owls up 4-0. This score would end regulation as KSC shut out the Bearcats en route to a 2-0 series lead.
Game 3: UC Pink scored almost immediately as Triple knocked in a goal following the kickoff at 0:07. Wom scored their first goal of the series on behalf of the Bearcats at 2:45, giving them a 2-0 lead. The Owls managed to bring it back within one as Julio scored a goal at 3:21. However, both teams remained scoreless for the rest of regulation and UC carried that to a victory, making it 2-1 KSC in the series.
Game 4: Just like the previous game, a kickoff goal came at 0:07 but this time it was Keene State striking first as Julio scored off of a redirect by Dreamz to immediately put the Owls up 1-0. A second goal came from kCrona at 1:46 to make it 2-0. Law would score KSC's third straight goal in less than two minutes as he made a shot at 1:54 to extend the lead to 3-0. UC finally got on the board at 3:12 with a goal by Triple that was unassisted. The Owls were sure to not allow a comeback this time around as Julio scored at 3:24 to bring it a 4-1 advantage. Another goal came at 4:43 as kCrona scored yet again to make it 5-1. In doing so, this meant all of KSC's starters managed to achieve a hat trick during the series.
The 5-1 lead ended regulation, securing the second straight victory for the squad. This brings their record to 2-3 and crucially plants them in the playoff picture as they look to their final games of the regular season in two weeks time.
What's next:
Rocket League Academy's final two games of the season come on Sunday March 22nd against RIT White at 8:00 PM and Tuesday March 24th against University of Wisconsin - Superior at 8:30 PM.
Overwatch
KSC Overwatch took on the University of Maryland on Monday night.
Map 1: Ilios
The Owls won the opening coin toss and elected Ilios as the first map of the series. They struggled to find their footing early as the Terrapins grabbed point control first and secured it to 96% before the Owls were able to flip it. KSC held strong for a large portion of game time, securing all the way to 99%. Unfortunately Maryland won one final teamfight to secure the point win and go up 1-0 in the game.
Point two saw the Owls assert themselves. Maryland grabbed control of the point first but only secured 29% as KSC fought back and established control themselves. Both teams traded ownership of the point back and forth with the Terrapins getting to 99% progress. KSC were able to hold strong and completely capture the point, tying it up 1-1.
The Owls took the control point first on the third point, staving off a few Maryland attacks, progressing to 48%. Once in control, Maryland repeatedly shut down KSC's retake attempts and would win the point 100%-48%, taking a 2-1 map victory with a 1-0 series lead.
Map 2: Midtown
Keene State selected Midtown as the Hybrid map and elected to defend first. Tasked with defending an initial four minutes of game time as Maryland attempted to secure a control point, KSC were able to hold off for a time. However, the Terrapins fully secured the point after one minute and 45 seconds which allowed them to begin progressing a payload throughout the rest of the map towards a second and third checkpoint. The second point was a bit of a struggle for Keene State as Maryland came barreling through the second checkpoint and towards map completion. The Owls held strong for over three minutes and stopped numerous attacks by Maryland. KSC would be successful in stopping Maryland short of the map completion, with 93.80 meters achieved. This meant the Owls would need to capture the first and second checkpoints and progress the cart 93.81 meters to win Midtown.
On attack, KSC were unable to fully capture the initial control point, getting 91.5% progress in the four minutes allotted. This put Maryland up 2-0 on the series and within match point territory.
Map 3: Esperanca
New to KSC Overwatch as of this week is a new map pool and order as mandated by PCL. In seasons previous and up to this week, KSC would play the Flashpoint game mode third in a series. Now, the Push game mode is the third game mode to be played in a series. In this game mode, teams compete in a tug-of-war style match where they fight over control of a robot in an attempt to cross it past two checkpoints. Achieving the third checkpoint grants a map victory.
The Owls grabbed a lot of momentum early as they were the first time to cross the first checkpoint, at 53.55 meters in comparison to 23.18 meters. The Owls would get as far as 88.10 meters compared to 69.38 by Maryland with less than two minutes remaining. KSC, however, were unable to stave off some second half momentum the Terrapins garnered and would lose Esperanca by a score of 88.10 meters to Maryland's 88.11 meters they achieved as time expired. This drops KSC Overwatch's record to 3-3.
What's next: KSC Overwatch finishes their regular season on Wednesday March 25th against University of North Carolina Blue in a game that is effectively a "win and in" scenario to make the top four needed for their playoff bracket.
VALORANT
With a 4-0 start to their season, KSC VALORANT took on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Thursday evening.
Map 1: Bind
The Owls took early control of Bind, beginning with a 9-3 lead. As the halves transitioned and RPI went on the attack, they began to overwhelm KSC, winning the first 9 rounds of the second half and taking a 12-9 lead with 13 being the amount needed to win. KSC fought back by winning rounds 22 and 23 to make it 12-11, but RPI would ultimately win round 24 to complete a huge comeback on Bind, winning 13-11 and taking a 1-0 series lead. This is also the first map loss of the season for KSC VALORANT.
Despite the map loss, the Owls played well individually: Jeremy "yerrei" Giguere led the way for all players with 28 kills alongside team captain Hailey "HMeesh" Michaud's 20 which was the third most among all players.
Map 2: Haven
Unlike Bind, KSC started off struggling mightily against RPI, losing seven out of the first eight rounds and falling to a 7-1 deficit. The Owls would win the next four rounds to make it 7-5, and RPI responded with two additional wins, bringing it to a 9-5 lead for the Engineers. Down by 4 rounds, KSC exploded in the second half, winning seven out of the following eight rounds to take a 12-10 lead. In round 23, the Owls completed a comeback of their own and closed out Haven with a 13-10 lead, forcing a deciding map three on the series.
Yerrei once again led KSC in kills with 21, the second most in the lobby, followed by Thomas "Chumbladorfian" Czwakiel with 19.
Map 3: Split
With momentum on their side, KSC VALORANT opened up Split with a 9-3 lead in the first half while on attack. RPI took a few rounds alongside KSC, but were still down as much as 11-6 in the matchup. The Engineers, like on Bind, did not back down from a difficult gap in round score and would go on to win the next seven rounds to stun KSC with a 13-11 map victory on Split, giving KSC VALORANT their first loss since a 2-1 loss to RIT Academy Yellow on November 6th, 2025.
Yerrei led all players in kills for the second time in the series, contributing an impressive 36, 10 more than the next player. The loss brings KSC VALORANT to a 4-1 record, putting them in second place in PCL's Ranked 4 East conference behind The College of New Jersey Blue (5-0).
What's next:
KSC VALORANT returns from their Spring break looking to rebound against the University of South Florida White (3-1) on Monday March 23rd at 8 PM.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
KSC SSBU looked to grab their third straight win of the season against undefeated Emerson College on Friday night.
Game 1: Kicking off the action for the Owls was Matt "squidman" Silvestri as Mario against Emerson's Starlaxi as Ryu. Both players traded stocks to begin, with both holding one at 0% damage taken a piece after two and a half minutes. In a true neutral one on one matchup, Starlaxi came out on top over Squidman, giving Emerson a 10-9 stock lead. Entering second for KSC was Brody "ph4r0h" Freehling as Min Min. Ph4r0h was able to take Starlaxi's final stock, but not before losing one of their own; allowing Emerson to keep a one stock lead with their second player entering next.
Next for the Lions was Calvinalex as Sonic. Ph4r0h was able to take a stock from Calvinalex and got their damage percent up to as high as 106%, but was unable to take a second stock as they were eliminated. This granted an 8-6 lead for Emerson as Evan "BlueShell" Giardina entered for Keene State as Pikachu. BlueShell took a stock off of Calvinalex, bringing them down to their final available one, and damaged them up to 111.9%. However, Calvinalex held on and took BlueShell's final stock away which secured a 7-3 advantage for the Lions.
Coming in third for the Owls was team captain Aidan "Sour" Zimmer as Piranha Plant. Crucially, Sour defeated CalvinAlex without losing a stock which reduced KSC's deficit to 6-3. The third player entering for Emerson was NamelessLemon as Incineroar. Sour emerged victorious from this matchup as well, making it a single stock game as KSC trailed just 3-2 with MarvelMike anchoring for the Lions as R.O.B.
During this Sour/MarvelMike matchup, it was discovered that one of Emerson's players was not playing on a wired LAN connection, which is required by PCL to compete in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. As a result, MarvelMike's stocks were forfeited and KSC would win game one by a score of 2-0, taking a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2: After a delay between games, the second of the series kicked off yet again with Squidman's Mario for KSC and Emerson's Starlaxi as Ryu. Like game one, Ryu came out on top of this encounter with one more stock than Squidman, which gave the Lions a 10-9 lead. The second Owl in game two was BlueShell as Pikachu. With one stock remaining from their first game against Squidman, Starlaxi managed to take a stock off of BlueShell before being taken out, keeping a 9-8 lead in place for the Lions as they sent in Calvinalex as Sonic. BlueShell's final two stocks were taken by Calvinalex, which granted Emerson a strong 9-6 lead.
Following BlueShell was Sour as Piranha Plant. Both combatants traded stocks with one another, but Sour came out on top with a Spike Ball onto Calvinalex, making it a 6-4 game in favor of the Lions. The third entrant for Emerson was MarvelMike as R.O.B. Sour made his final stock count, taking two of MarvelMike's away before finally being taken out. This put the Owls in a 4-3 stock disadvantage as their final player entered: Ph4r0h as Min Min. Ph4r0h defeated MarvelMike and held all three of their stocks which set up a final set between both team's final players, both with three stocks. The final entrant for the Lions would be NamelessLemon as Wolf.
An extremely tense matchup followed with Ph4r0h losing out against Wolf while having only taken a stock away. This gave Emerson a 2-0 game victory of their own following the Owls' win in game one. The tied series would then go into a deciding game three.
Game 3: After anchoring game two, KSC coaches Aleksey Wirth and Star Delage made the pivot to have Ph4r0h open up the third game. For the third time in the series, Starlaxi opened for Emerson as Ryu. Both players traded stocks with one another, but Starlaxi came out victorious with one remaining; this was their third time in as many games giving Emerson an early 10-9 stock lead. Coming in second for KSC was Squidman as Mario. Starlaxi, with one stock left, drew first blood and took a stock away from Squidman before finally being taken out. With a 9-8 lead, Emerson's next player was NamelessLemon as Wolf. Both players got each other down to one stock and Squidman had taken 148.9% damage into his final stock, but he held on and defeated NamelessLemon, which gave KSC a 7-6 lead, their first lead in a game since the end of game one.
The third entrant for the Lions was MarvelMike as R.O.B. With one stock to work with, Squidman played an amazing game against MarvelMike; three-stocking his opponent and keeping his one stock. For Squidman's efforts, the pressure of a 7-3 KSC lead in this series-deciding game was put on Emerson's anchor Calvinalex as Sonic. Squidman, having taken 152% damage, took a stock from Calvinalex before he was finally defeated. Squidman's eight stocks taken throughout this game set up KSC with a 6-2 advantage. The third player for the Owls was BlueShell as Pikachu. After having been defeated by Calvinalex's Sonic twice already in the series, BlueShell came out on top by taking Calvinalex's final two stocks while losing one in the process. This secured a 5-0 game victory for KSC and a 2-1 series victory.
This win gave Emerson their first loss of the season and cements KSC SSBU (4-2) in a three-way tie for first place alongside Camden County (4-0) and Emerson (4-1) in PCL's Ranked 1 East A division.
What's next:
KSC SSBU will now take a two-week break from competition and close out their Spring 2026 regular season with a doubleheader on Friday, March 27th: vs. Howard University at 7 PM and Immaculata University at 9 PM.
