ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights Esports Overwatch team took on the University of Cincinnati on Monday night in Week 2 of NACE action. The Saints were unable to cover consistent ground on maps one (Control) and two (Hybrid), finding struggles with hero counters for the Cincy squad. Map 3 (Escort) showed early promise for SHU but shot-calling and positioning derailed a late push, resulting in an 0-3 loss to start the week. Siena Heights support Philip Cuthbertson (WinnableBTW) lamented to map adjustments and synergy against other teams to be focal points moving forward. "We just need to put more time in together and find what fits us the best."
The Overwatch team is set to run up against The Fighting Illini of Illinois next Monday for Week 3 of NACE play at 7:00 p.m. on the team's official Twitch page.
Rocket League hosted their first live head to head of the year against visiting Lourdes University in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play. The trio of Savanna Mott (vladdy1418), Lucas Dix (Synthy), and Kyle Gonyon (YoMoisty) struggled out of the gates in game one, constantly on the defensive without much counter-play, falling 5-2. Game two showed some flashes of better play across the board but Lourdes outmuscled the Saints, taking the game, 3-1. Game 3 got away from the Siena Heights who gave up a total of 12 shots in the final game and dropping a 6-0 defeat. Dix (Synthy) equated the loss to team chemistry against a seasoned opponent. "They've played together for a few years and we started a few weeks ago. The improvement is there and I feel we played better today than we did last week."
Rocket League regrouped to take on Lawrence Tech University in their first of two meetings in WHAC play this fall. Game one saw the Saints take an early lead thanks to some great defense and counter-play by Gonyon (YoMoisty). Tech was able to answer with their own score with just over a minute left to play. Miscues doomed the finish of Game 2, as Tech got a pair of easy chips in shots on over-commits, leading to giving up Game one in the best of five series. Game two saw nearly three minutes of stout defense from both sides before Tech was able to convert one of their five shots to take a 1-0 lead. There was an answer from Dix with 34 seconds left in regulation to tie it up, eventually sending it into OT. OT took a total of 11 seconds capped off by an air roll goal by Dix, assisted by Gonyon, tying the series 1-1. Dix continued his stellar play with the first goal of Game three at the 2:53 mark. Tech would go on to tie it up less than 30 seconds later and score a pair on top of it to take a 3-1 and eventual 3-2 victory in Game three. Game four consisted of goals from both teams early on to keep it square at 1-1. Rotational breakdowns caused the Saints to fall behind 3-1 with 31 seconds left to play. Gonyon was able to capitalize on a critical save, which led to a solo counter-play and goal to bring the Saints within one with 19 seconds to play. The comeback fell just short as a final Saints shot on goal missed the upper 90, resulting in a series loss, 3-1.
The Rocket League team will square off against powerhouse Akron in NACE action on Monday (9/20) and will also square off against Aquinas College on Thursday (9/23) in WHAC play, both games will stream on the official Twitch page.
