KEENE, N.H. – All of Keene State College Esports' five teams competed in playoff competition during the week of Monday April 6th: four in their respective winner's bracket and one in a consolation bracket, going a combined 2-3.
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 secured the #3 seed in PCL's Ranked 1 division and battled University of Central Florida's Academy team (#4) on Tuesday night.
Game 1: The first goal of the series came at 0:14 courtesy of UCF's Super, assisted by Sosa. Sosa contributed their first goal at 1:10 to put UCF up 2-0. Super knocked in a second goal at 2:20, also assisted by Sosa, to make it 3-0 Knights halfway through regulation.
At 2:39, Jack "Jackattack1600" Manning scored the first Owl goal of the series to halt UCF's momentum and make it 3-1 with plenty of time left. However, UCF's Lu scored their first goal of the game at 3:55 to bring the score to 4-1, which would be the final. The Knights would end up 1-0 in the best-of-seven series as a result.
Game 2: Sosa got the Knights going first with a goal at 2:21, assisted by Lu. Lu knocked in their second goal of the series at 3:14 to make it 2-0. With just under two minutes left, KSC sought to rally back. First, team captain Eric "Twisty9" Carlo scored his first goal of the series, assisted by Jackattack at 4:03. With just 20 seconds remaining, Jackattack scored to tie the game, assisted by Twisty9. The 2-2 score ended regulation and triggered sudden-death overtime. After two minutes and 19 seconds, Andrew "Aurorxs" Sorcinelli scored his first goal of the series and it couldn't have come at a better time as the Owls secured a critical 3-2 game lead after being down 2-0. This tied the series at one win a piece.
Game 3: After a game-winning goal in the previous game, Aurorxs scored immediately off of the first kickoff at 0:09. He smacked in an unassisted goal at 1:56 to bring the score to 2-0 in favor of KSC. Jackatttack contributed a goal at 4:55 to make the score 3-0 as time expired, giving KSC a 2-1 series advantage.
Game 4: Sosa scored the first goal of the game at 1:34, which was unassisted. Sosa then contributed a second goal for the Knights at 2:46. Jackattack brought Keene State within one with a goal at 3:23. Off of the next kickoff, Sosa secured the first hat trick for all players with a goal at 3:32, making it 3-1 UCF. At 3:48, Super knocked in a goal to make it 4-1.
KSC did their best to stay alive as Aurorxs scored a goal at 3:54 making it 4-2 in favor of the Knights. UCF shut down a potential rally however, with Lu scoring their first goal of game four at 4:33: 5-2 Knights. Twisty9 managed to secure a score as time expired at 5:00 but the Owls would fall 5-3 as the series tied 2-2.
Game 5: Both teams held each other without a goal for over three and a half minutes. The stalemate was broken by KSC as Aurorxs scored at 3:45 off an unassisted shot. The Knights responded quickly as Super tied the game at one all at 4:12. The second overtime period of the series was needed following the conclusion of regulation time. After just over two minutes, Sosa broke through for UCF, scoring a game-winning goal at 2:05 to secure a 2-1 game five victory for the Knights and putting them up 3-2.
Game 6: Super scored the first goal of the game at 1:08 to put UCF up 1-0. Lu scored off of the ensuing kickoff, making it a 2-0 Knights lead at 1:18. Super followed up with their second goal of the game at 1:53 to make it 3-0. At 3:16, Super secured a hat trick with their third goal of the game to make it 4-0. Lu then grabbed their second goal of the game at 3:32 to make it 5-0 UCF.
Twisty9 got the Owls on the board with 2:10 remaining, but with a 5-1 deficit looming over them. At 3:47, Lu scored a hat trick of their own to put UCF up 6-1. Aurorxs scored a goal of his own at 4:07 to bring the score to 6-2 but this would be the end of scoring for both teams as UCF carried a 6-2 victory in the sixth game to a 4-2 series victory.
What's next:
With the defeat, KSC Varsity Rocket League's Spring 2026 season comes to an end with a combined 6-2 record. They will return to PCL competition in Fall 2026.
Rocket League Academy
KSC Rocket League Academy narrowly missed out on PCL Ranked playoffs and instead were placed in a consolation bracket wherein they took on Northern Michigan University Green on Tuesday evening.
Game 1: The first goal of the evening went to the Owls as Joe "Julio" Aste scored at 1:21. Adam "Stylobiko" Albik scored his first goal of the series at 2:48 to put KSC up 2-0. At 3:38, NMU's Wkizer scored their first goal of the series to make it 2-1 Owls. Ryan "Dreamz" Morrison would follow this up with his first goal at 4:28 to reestablish a two-goal lead for KSC at 3-1. This score would end regulation as KSC Academy took a 1-0 series lead with all three members contributing a goal.
Game 2: Mvximus scored NMU's first goal of the game at 1:07 to take a 1-0 lead. Wkizer followed this up with a goal to make it 2-0 at 2:27. Stylobiko kept KSC in the game with a goal at 2:43 to make the score 2-1. With less than a minute remaining, NMU's Iota scored their first goal of the game to ice it for the Wildcats. The 3-1 score ended regulation as the series tied at one win a piece.
Game 3: The first goal of the third game came at 1:09 from NMU's Mvximus. Mvximus followed this up with a second straight goal at 2:39 to make it 2-0 Wildcats. Off of the kickoff, Iota scored to make it 3-0 with two minutes, 16 seconds remaining. With less than half of regulation time to go, KSC got to work.
At 3:34, Stylobiko got the first Owl goal of the game to make it 3-1. This was followed by Julio's first goal of the game at 3:46, assisted by Stylobiko to make it a one score game. With just three seconds left, Stylobiko scored the game-tying goal to make it 3-3 and trigger overtime. Just eight seconds into overtime, Julio scored a fourth straight KSC goal to complete the come from behind victory at 4-3 and take 2-1 series lead.
Game 4: Mvximus yet again scored the first goal for the third game out of four played to take a 1-0 Wildcat lead. This was answered by KSC's Dreamz, who tied the game at 0:49. Dreamz would score a second straight goal at 2:28 to make it 2-1. He would then complete the hat trick with a goal at 4:17. This 3-1 score ended regulation and KSC entered match point territory with a 3-1 series score.
Game 5: After scoring every Owl goal in game four, Dreamz continued his hot streak immediately with a goal at 0:24. Stylobiko then scored at 1:21 to make it 2-0, and shortly after knocked in another at 2:01 to quickly put KSC up 3-0. NMU were unable to answer and KSC carried the lead to a game victory and secured a 4-1 series win.
What's next:
Rocket League Academy's consolation bracket run will continue into the semifinals, set to take place on Tuesday April 15th against an opponent to be determined.
Overwatch
KSC Overwatch's 4-3 regular season record was good for the #7 seed in PCL Ranked 1's playoff bracket, and they took on #2 San Jose State University Gold Wednesday night.
Map 1: Lijiang Tower
With SJSU being the higher seed, they were granted the ability to choose the first map of the series and selected Lijiang Tower.
SJSU captured the first control point and secured it to 51% before KSC were able to fend them off and take it for themselves. The Owls secured 23% of the point before being pushed off. The Spartans got the point up to 99% and KSC contested for an extended overtime period but were not able to turn it which gave SJSU a 1-0 map lead. The second point saw SJSU take point control first, and they progressed to 67% before KSC won a team fight to swing it in their control. Keene State moved the point to 37% progress, and SJSU reasserted control. Like the first point, the Spartans got to 99% progress but the Owls contested heavily but were unable to take it for themselves. SJSU would win Lijiang with a 2-0 score and take a 1-0 series lead.
Map 2: Midtown
With the loss on Lijiang, KSC selected Midtown as the Hybrid map. The Owls began on attack and had four minutes to work with to capture an initial control point.
After three minutes of scrappy fighting, the Owls managed to take the control point with just 45 seconds left to gain control of the payload cart and begin progressing to the second objective checkpoint. KSC managed to move the payload 108.69 meters; just a few meters away from unlocking the checkpoint and earning more time. However, the Spartans held strong and stuffed the Owls, ending their attack.
As sides flipped, KSC were now tasked with defending a Spartan attack for the next four minutes. KSC staved off a few attacks by SJSU, but were finally overwhelmed as the Spartans captured the point with 2:06 remaining, giving them four minutes and 36 seconds to move the cart 108.70 meters to beat KSC. The Owls fought hard against the Spartans, and won several teamfights in a row. However, SJSU finally broke through and finished Midtown with one minute and 12 seconds remaining, taking a 2-0 victory in the series.
Map 3: Runasapi
KSC selected Runasapi for the third map of the series; a Push map where both teams vie for control of a robot. SJSU got the robot moving first after a quick teamfight, moved it 76.76 meters and unlocked the first of two checkpoints before the Owls were able to push them back and gain some momentum. Over the next few minutes KSC chipped away at their distance deficit, eventually moving it 51.17 meters compared to SJSU's 106.60. The Spartans were able to move it to 133.75, nearly the full length of the map, but the Owls kept fighting and unlocked the first checkpoint at 55.53 meters with 30 seconds remaining.
Despite the late-game surge by KSC, there simply was not enough time left as the Spartans won a final teamfight to end the Owls' night at 85.73 meters of progress compared to 133.75. SJSU would win Runasapi and therefore the series by a score of 3-0.
What's next: KSC Overwatch's season comes to a close with a cumulative record of 4-4; they will return to PCL Ranked play in the Fall 2026 season.
VALORANT
KSC VALORANT took on Stephen F. Austin University on Thursday, April 9th in their PCL Ranked 5 Quarterfinal matchup. Following a 2-1 loss to SFA, PCL administration found SFA's roster in violation of the PCL rulebook and awarded a victory to KSC VALORANT.
What's next: Keene State VALORANT moves on to the PCL Ranked 4 semifinals as they take on Colorado School of Mines at 7:30 PM on Thursday April 16th.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
KSC SSBU, #7 seed, battled #2 Malone University Red on Friday night, looking to make it to the PCL Ranked 1 Semifinals.
Game 1: Matthew "squidman" Silvestri led off for the Owls against Malone's first player as Link. Link grabbed the first KO of the series, taking Squidman's first stock with a bomb throw. Squidman was able to take one stock off of Link before he was fully defeated as Malone took an 11-9 lead. Entering second for KSC was Brody "Ph4r0h" Freehling as Min Min. Link took the first stock of this set, pushing MU's lead to 11-8. Freehling was able to take the final two stocks Link had available while keeping one, making it 7-9 for Malone as their next player entered. Coming in next for the Pioneers was their second player, who selected Little Mac. They took Ph4r0h's final stock away after 54 seconds of action, eliminating them and giving Malone a 9-6 stock advantage.
The third Owl to enter the fray was Aidan "Sour' Zimmer as King K. Rool. Little Mac took an initial stock away to make it 9-5, and Sour responded with a KO, bringing it to 8-5. The two then exchanged damage with one another, with Sour taking another stock away. With one stock remaining, Little Mac took control of the matchup and eliminated Sour two more times to come out of the matchup alive. This signalled a 7-4 lead for the Pioneers as Evan "BlueShell" Giardina entered as KSC's anchor, playing Pikachu. BlueShell would end up taking Little Mac's final stock after losing one themselves; this gave KSC a 6-2 stock deficit to overcome.
The third Pioneer to come into the game selected Piranha Plant. BlueShell was in control of the matchup for the first entire skirmish, losing just one stock while taking all three of Piranha Plant's stocks. This narrowed Malone's lead to just 3-1 with their anchor coming in as Luigi. However, BlueShell was unable to take a stock off Luigi and would be defeated in 55 seconds, giving the Pioneers a 1-0 series lead off of a 3-0 stock win in game one.
Game 2: Jackson "Jackabot27" Schimpf started off the second game for Keene State against Malone's Little Mac player. Little Mac drew first blood with a knockout on Jackabot. Jackabot answered this by taking Little Mac's first stock and tying the game at 11 stocks per team. Both players traded stocks once more, but Jackabot was caught by Little Mac with a smash attack that broke through his shield and stunned him, setting up a final KO for Little Mac as the Pioneers took a 10-9 lead.
The next Owl in was Sour as Piranha Plant. Sour was able to take Little Mac's final stock with all three of his own, evening up the game 9-9. The second Pioneer in the game entered as Link. After a scrappy near-five minutes, Link emerged with the encounter win with one stock left as Sour lost all of his: setting up a 7-6 lead for the Pioneers. The third KSC player was BlueShell as Pikachu. BlueShell took Link's final stock but not before losing one of his, making the stock score 6-5 Malone. The third Malone player coming in to take on BlueShell selected Luigi. Luigi moved quickly, taking both of BlueShell's stocks and bringing the count to 6-3 in favor of the Pioneers.
Anchoring for KSC was Ph4r0h as Min Min. Ph4r0h was able to come out with the victory on Luigi, but with two stocks of theirs being taken as well. With yet another 3-1 hole in place, KSC needed Ph4r0h to make it work to keep their season alive. Malone's final player chose Piranha Plant. Freehling did their best to stay patient and get damage off, which resulted in a KO on Plant. Ph4r0h continued peppering Piranha Plant with damage, getting it as high as 136.2%, which allowed Freehling to get another KO and tie the game at 1-1. However, Freehling had taken 162.2% damage which allowed Plant to immediately KO them when they reentered the arena, defeating Ph4r0h and ending KSC's season with a 2-0 series victory.
What's next:
KSC Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's season ends with a first round playoff exit. They will continue competing in Fall 2026 within PCL Ranked Play.
