GLENSIDE, Pa. - The Arcadia University Hearthstone, Overwatch, and Rocket League programs all picked up victories to begin the week of competition.


HEARTHSTONE (TESPA VARSITY INVITATIONAL)
ARCADIA (A) 3, MESSIAH 2

Pre game: The Knights Varsity squad of Aidan Stuhltrager, Henry Ryder, and Joel Anderson. Looked to continue their strong run through the TESPA Varsity Invitational, a tournament featuring 43 of the top esports programs in the country. The Knights (2-1) faced off against familiar foe Messiah University (2-1), with the winner looking to move into a great spot for playoff contention.

Game 1: The Knights jumped out to a strong start on their Libram Paladin with a much-needed game one win over the soul demon hunter list of Messiah.

Game 2: The Knights dropped game two in a wild match with their control priest against the small spell mage of Messiah.

Game 3: The Knights battled back on their control priest and were able to get the win against the soul demon hunter of Messiah. The Knights' lineup choice to counter weapon based decks was proving to pay off big in this series.

Game 4: Messiah refused to go down without a fight in game four as they were able to secure the win in the Demon Hunter mirror match and push the series to a winner-take-all game five.

Game 5: The Knights were able to secure the win on their soul demon hunter over Messiah's bomb warrior and take the series win, 3-2. The Knights move to 3-1 and find themselves one win away from the first playoff birth in Arcadia Esports history.

HEARTHSTONE (TESPA OPEN DIVISION)
ARCADIA (A) 3, ASHLAND 1

Pregame: The Knights' team of Aidan Stuhltrager, Herny Ryder, and Joel Anderson looked to finish the TESPA Open Division Split 1 with a 4-4 record with a win over Ashland University.

Game 1: Things got rolling well early for the Knights as they were able to take the quick win with their weapon rogue over the Demon hunter of Ashland.

Game 2: The Knights were able to get a win in game two as their face hunter list sped through the soul demon hunter once again.

Game 3: Ashland fought back with a win of their own over the mage deck of the Knights.

Game 4: The Knights did not let the game three loss get to them and fought back strong in game four to secure a win with their mage over the face hunter of the Ashland side.

ARCADIA (B) 1, RIT WHITE II 3

Pregame: The Knights team of Mason Cole, Corey Klevan, and Xavier Dube looked to match the A squad and finish with a 4-4 record of their own.

Game 1: The Knights jumped out to a strong start in the series with a face hunter win over the mage of RIT.

Game 2: RIT bounced back on their mage list and got the win over the Knights Stealth Rogue list.

Game 3: The RIT squad kept the momentum up in game three with a strong performance on their secret rogue vs the Knights Stealth Rogue.

Game 4: The control warrior of RIT flexed its muscles in game four and defeated the Stealth Rogue of the Knights

OVERWATCH (NACE FALL CUP)
ARCADIA 3, LACKAWANNA 0

Game 1: This week's NACE control map was Nepal, and the Knights started off with their standard brawl composition for the map. The Knights had a hard-fought first map, but eventually came out with the win.

Game 2: Lackawanna brought the Knights back to a familiar map, Dorado, where the Knights showcased their new 'poke' composition consisting of Sigma/Hog on tank, Widow or Ashe/Hanzo as DPS, and Mercy/Ana supports. With this composition, the Knights were able to stop Lackawanna's push just before the final checkpoint and were then able to achieve the map victory with a little under two minutes to spare in their time bank.

Game 3: The Knights ran their poke composition again and found a lot of success. An extremely close fight was won on the back of a great Moira coalescence executed by Jordyn Willis on support. In the end, the Knights were able to get through Lackawanna in a similar fashion as they did on Dorado, and took the series win 3-0.

ROCKET LEAGUE (NACE FALL CUP)
ARCADIA 1, MCCC RED 3

Game 1: (MCCC, 3-1) Ben Baron scored early, but MCCC responded immediately with back-to-back goals. The score remained 2-1 before a late MCCC score sealed the game one victory.

Game 2: (MCCC, 3-2) Ben Baron netted the opening goal, but MCCC followed with a pair of scores to take the lead. Jon Zhang tied it up with 30 seconds, but once again, MCCC had the had the final say to take game two, 3-2.

Game 3: (Arcadia, 6-2) Ben Baron and Will Costa hat tricks kept the Knights alive in the series, leading the Knights to a 6-2.

Game 4: (Arcadia, 4-3) Arcadia looked to be down and out for most of the game, but a pair Ben Baron goals forced overtime before the Knights came away with the series-tying win in game four.

Game 5: (MCCC, 3-1) Montgomery County came away with the series-clinching win in game five, 3-1.

ARCADIA 3, MESSIAH 2

Game 1: (Arcadia, 2-1) In a back and forth affair, it was two Ben Baron goals that were enough to put Arcadia past Messiah.

Game 2: (Arcadia, 3-1) Arcadia controlled most of game two with a goal from Jon Zhang and two more from Ben Baron. All three players had an assist in the team win.

Game 3: (Messiah, 3-1) Messiah found their footing in game three while slowing the Knights down offensively in the 3-1 victory.

Game 4: (Messiah, 3-1) Messiah continued their momentum into game four, scoring three unanswered goals to even the series at two.

Game 5: (Arcadia, 3-2) Both teams made game five interesting, as Arcadia jumped out to a 3-0 lead via two Will Costa goals before Messiah cut the lead to one with 30 seconds left. The Knight defense was able to hold strong for the 3-2 victory.