KEENE, N.H. – Keene State College Esports' Academy Rocket League and VALORANT team competed in their PCL Ranked consolation bracket final games on Tuesday and Thursday evening last week, with both teams falling just short of third place finishes in their seasons.
 
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 Academy vs. University of Cincinnati White
 
Game 1:
The first goal of the series went to KSC 24 seconds in courtesy of Ryan "Dreamz" Morrison to take a 1-0 lead. A second goal came from Aidan "kCrona" Law at 1:11 to make it 2-0 Owls. Cincinnati snagged their first goal of the series from Informaal at 2:31 to cut KSC's lead to 2-1. Law responded immediately for KSC with a goal off the ensuing kickoff to bring the score to 3-1 in favor of Keene State. Dreamz contributed his second goal of the game at 4:23 to expand the lead to 4-1 as KSC carried this lead to a game one victory in the best-of-seven series.
 
Game 2:
ExpendableMC7 scored the first Bearcats goal of the game at 0:21 to take a quick 1-0 lead. RealShur1k3n scored their first goal of the game at 0:32 to make it 2-0 Cincinnati. UC kept their foot on the gas as RealShur1k3n scored yet again at 0:42, making it 3-0. Adam "Stylobiko" Albik got the Owls on the board at 1:56 as they cut the lead to 3-1. RealShur1k3n would respond with their third goal of the game at 2:43 to give the Bearcats another three-goal lead at 4-1. A final Bearcat goal came at 3:04 with Informaal's first goal of the game. This 5-1 score would last the final two minutes of regulations as the series tied at 1-1. 
 
Game 3:
For the first time in the series, the first minute went scoreless as teams jockeyed for position. A near two-minute stalemate was broken by KSC at 1:54 as Dreamz scored an unassisted goal to put Keene State up 1-0. A broadcast error followed, which disabled the final minutes of this game, however the Owls managed to take game three by a score of 2-1, giving them a 2-1 series lead.
 
Game 4:
Dreamz scored the first goal of game four at 0:22 assisted by kCrona to put KSC up 1-0. The Owls held on to the lead for over a minute and a half until ExpendableMC7 scored at 1:50 to tie it at one goal a piece. This was followed by another ExpendableMC7 goal at 3:02 to make it 2-1. With less than a minute remaining, kCrona knocked in a goal at 4:06 to tie it back up at two all. However, ExpendableMC7 achieved a hat trick with a third goal at 4:20 to reestablish a Bearcat lead at 3-2. Yet another goal came from ExpendableMC7 at 4:32 to make it 4-2. This score would end regulation as the Bearcats tied the series 2-2.


Game 5: For just the second time in the series, the first minute went scoreless until RealShur1k3n scored at 1:25 to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead. Dreamz got the first Owl goal at 2:38 to tie it up at 1-1, assisted by Stylobiko. ExpendableMC7 responded with a goal at 3:03 to make it 2-1. A kickoff goal came at 3:16 by RealShur1k3n to make it 3-1 Bearcats. At 3:25, ExpendableMC7 contributed another goal to put UC up 4-1, which would be the final score with the Bearcats taking a 3-2 series lead.
 
Game 6: The sixth game would be the slowest game of the series in terms of when the first goal came. Dreamz struck first for KSC at 3:03 to give them a 1-0 lead. Informal would tie it for UC at 3:36. With just 32 seconds remaining, ExpendableMC7 scored yet again to give Cincinnati White a lead they would not surrender as they won the series 4-2, winning the PCL Ranked 3 consolation bracket finals. 
 
VALORANT vs. The College of New Jersey
 
Map 1: Haven
Keene State began Haven on attack. The Lions started off strong by taking a 3-0 lead early on that KSC were able to answer by winning four of the next five rounds and tying the match at 4-4 heading into the ninth round. The two teams would then trade round wins with one another they tied again at 5-5 and again at 6-6 as the first half ended. 
 
TCNJ started off the second half with tremendous momentum winning rounds 13 through 18 to take a 12-6 lead and enter match point territory. The Owls did their best to claw back, winning rounds 19 and 20, but a loss in round 21 saw them fall 13-8 on Haven as The College of New Jersey took a 1-0 series lead. Thomas "Chumbladorfian" Czwakiel led all players in Average Combat Score with 256 alongside 16 kills as Jett. Sheldom "redblast" Vasquez led the Owls in kills with 18 as Cypher.
 
Map 2: Bind
KSC defended first on Bind with their season on the line. Starting off hot with a 9-1 start by round ten. The Lions were able to take one more round before the end of the first half, but KSC carried a huge 10-2 advantage into the second half, needing only three more round wins to force a map three. TCNJ would take two rounds in the second half, but the Owls were able to secure those three needed round wins to take Bind with a decisive 13-4 line, tying the series at 1-1 and triggering a series deciding third map. Chumbladorfian once again led all players in Average Combat Score with 341 as Raze alongside 19 kills. Team captain Hailey "HMeesh" Michaud contributed 20 kills as Brimstone, good for most among all ten players.
 
Map 3: Split
Like Bind, the Owls defended in the first half of Split. After an impressive start on Bind, KSC struggled on Split, losing the first six rounds and falling behind 6-0. They were able to win the seventh and eighth rounds to make it 6-2, but TCNJ stifled them with a round nine win to bring it to 7-2. The two teams alternated round wins to end the half, with TCNJ holding a strong 9-3 advantage as sides switched.
 
The Lions kept the Owls at bay in the second half, winning rounds 13 and 14 to take an 11-3 lead. KSC would win round 15 and 16 to make it 11-5 TCNJ, but the Lions sealed the game with wins in the final two rounds to win Split 13-5 and the PCL Ranked 4 consolation bracket finals with a score of 2-1. Jeremy "yerrei' Giguere led the Owls with 13 kills as Viper followed closely by Gavin "Melatonin" Pierce with 12 with Skye.