MARION, Ind. -With two games this week, both the Valorant and Rocket League teams finished their NECC regular seasons, with both teams doing enough to make the NECC Conference playoffs.

Valorant began the week taking on York College of PA on Monday. The Wildcats stormed out to a 13-7 win on map no. 1, Haven, but struggled heavily on map no. 2 Icebox. It was the first time the Wildcats had played the map all season and, despite a bit of a comeback in the second half, the Wildcats lost in a very close map 11-13.

It looked like Icebox may have been a fluke once the Wildcats built an 8-4 lead on their attack on map no. 3, Ascent. But York's duelist "sxn" almost singlehandedly carried York into overtime, leading them to 5 straight rounds on the Wildcat's match point to tie the map 12-12. Both teams went back and forth in overtime, but ultimately it would be York who pulled off the massive upset to end the regular season, winning Ascent 15-13.

However, even with the loss, the Wildcats still managed to secure the no. 1 seed for the East Conference Playoffs. They will take on no. 8 UNCW on Monday, with the winner moving on to the semifinals.

Rocket League also capped off their NECC regular season this week against Carthage. However, Rocket League needed to win at least two games in order to make the Central Conference Playoffs. It looked a bit scary at first, as Carthage used two transition goals to win game one, 3-2. However, it was all Wildcats from there, as they stormed into a 6-3 win in game two and a 2-1 win in game three. Despite officially making playoffs after those two games, the Wildcats weren't done. They also took game 4 and the series, putting them as the no. 5 seed for the Central Conference Playoffs.

While the Rocket League team does not officially know their opponent yet, they will take on either Northern Kentucky, or University of the Cumberlands depending on the results of two late season matches.

Finally, the Wildcats Esports team officially announced that all conference playoff matches will be livestreamed to the Century Dining Room! Please bring yourself, your family and your friends to support the Wildcats in the attempts to win the conference and make the National Championship Tournament!

Standout Wildcats

• Aaron Stoller, "Monke", had one of his best matches of the season for the Wildcats against York, despite being the team's lowest ranked player. He finished second in avg. Combat score for the Wildcats in the last two maps, with a combined 403 avg. combat score.
• While Jeb Byrd, "Drybbles", often steals the show for the Wildcats Rocket League team, this week against Carthage really highlighted how well Gise Gibson, "Twizt", and Eli Bowron, "zoratta", support him. Gibson tied Byrd in both Goals and Assists this week (5 and 3 respectively), while Bowron shattered the single match record for the team for saves in an NECC match. He finished with 18 saves, only one off the overall record, set in a full 7 game series earlier this season.

Upcoming Matches

Monday

• #1 Valorant vs. #8 UNCW, NECC East Conference Quarterfinals, 8pm, livestreamed in the Century Dining Room

Tuesday

• GLEC Rocket League vs. Indiana Tech, 7pm

Wednesday

• GLEC Rocket League vs. Mount Union, 8pm

Thursday

• #5 Rocket League vs. TBD, NECC Central Conference Quarterfinals, time TBD (8pm expected), livestreamed in the Century Dining Room

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