GLENSIDE - The Arcadia University Esports program saw two teams - Rocket League and Overwatch - finish in the top two at the inaugural Appalchian Esports Championships held at the Belong Arena in King of Prussia.
ROCKET LEAGUE
Rocket League's
Benjamin Baron,
Nick Greco, and
Matt Coe captured the conference championship, defeating Stevenson University in the semifinals before taking down Alvernia University in the championship. The Knights had previously lost to the Golden Wolves during the regular season but won all games, including two in overtime to secure the title.
OVERWATCH
The Overwatch team of Cole Baugh(Tank),
Paul Broccardi (DPS),
Patrick McCool (DPS),
Michael Giordano (Support), and
Tony Goines (Support) competed for the Knights. Earlier in the season the Knights lost the Messiah 3-2 in the best of 5 series. Map one started at Lijiang Tower and it was a close match between the Knights and the Falcons. Arcadia took the first point coming out of the gate strong against Messiah but the Falcons then responded by taking the second point of the map. A close third point allowed the Falcons managed to go up 1-0 in the series. In game two, Arcadia picked to go to King's Row. King's Row, a well prepped and played map for the Knight was a tough battle, but Arcadia was able to squeeze out a win to tie the score at one. Messiah had map choice next, selecting Havana. The Knights started out on offense in map three and full capped with 50 seconds left on the clock. Messiah responded well by fully completing the push but with overtime in play, so both teams reset with Arcadia having 1:50 to push the cart and Messiah having 1:00. Arcadia held the spawn doors and only allowed Messiah to push the cart 2.57 meters. With this strong hold, Arcadia was on the offensive only needing to push further than the Falcons. After a strong defensive hold by Messiah with 15 seconds left on the clock Arcadia managed to win one final fight and push the cart winning the map, giving the team a 2-1 lead in the series. Messiah decided to go to Esperanca for map four but Arcadia held momentum following the last map, and managed to full push the robot and win the map in deciding fashion, winning the series 3-1 and pushing the Knights to the championship against Lebanon Valley College.
Arcadia lost to LVC 3-0 to start out the season, so the team knew that they needed to start strong to win the series. Map one again began at Lijiang Tower, and through another intense back and forth, the Knights were victorious, gaining a 1-0 lead. LVC had map choice for game two and brought the Knights back to King's Row. After a close match, Arcadia lost the map after LVC managed to make a strong push, evening the score at one. For map three, the Knights chose to bring the Dutchmen to Havana, having confidence from their match and earlier experience on it in the series against Messiah. Arcadia, with no shortage of confidence, fully capped the map and stopped LVC in their tracks at second point. With Arcadia leading 2-1 ,LVC brought the Knights to Esperanca, but with a slower start to the maps the Knights were on the back foot from the beginning. After the timer started to tick down, Arcadia managed to push the robot just feet from taking the map in overtime, but lost a close fight. Arcadia has a big decision on which map to choose with the score tied at two to get the edge over LVC and win the Championship match, deciding to go to Oasis. After multiple close fights and lead changes throughout the rounds, Arcadia lost the map and match to LVC to finish runner-up.
