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SHU Rocket League Team Continues to Collect Accolades in First Season of Competition

Photo Courtesy of rocketleague.com
Photo Courtesy of rocketleague.com

The Siena Heights Rocket League eSports team has been one of the most successful first-year varsity programs in the history of Siena Heights athletics. 

In its inaugural season, the team consisting of three-sport athlete Brent Rodden (soccer, track & field), two-sport athlete Aaron Bitz (golf), Nicholas Keck, and Dylan Keck have amassed a highlight reel of accomplishments in the 2018-19 year. 

Rocket League is a competitive, multiplayer video game that is played by over 50 million players. The game mixes soccer with driving and can be played in teams of 1-4 on a team. The matches last five minutes and the winner is the team that scores the most goals in that time period. In collegiate eSports, Rocket League is played in a best three out of five game series to determine the winning team.

Most recently, the squad knocked off #6 Michigan in a best of five series by a score of 3-2 to qualify for day two of the College Carball Association (CCA) Spring Series. The team has also tallied two final four appearances in Collegiate Starleague (CSL) fall tournaments. The Saints were among top schools Central Florida, Illinois, and Cal-Poly during the first appearance in the final four. SHU remained with LSU, Clemson, and Central Florida in the team's second CSL final four.

In the Collegiate Rocket League (CRL), Siena finished the open ladder ranked 16th in the country out of a total of 255 participants.

Nick Keck who is known by his game ID as Affordable Thor was ranked in the top-100 in the world for one-versus-one Rocket League matches.

During all these big finishes, the SHU Rocket League eSports team have earned victories over multiple NCAA Division I teams including Illinois, Purdue, Miami (Ohio), Kansas State, Oklahoma, Utah State, North Carolina, Michigan, and Kent State.

The team returns to action in April for a second opportunity to qualify for the CCA Spring Series Championships.