Muskies Rocket League Reaches NECC Semifinals; Omega Strikers Finish Top 4 Nationally
Lakeland University’s Rocket League team will compete in the National Esports Collegiate Conferences (NECC) Nationals semifinals tonight (April 30) at 7 p.m.
Lakeland will stream the match against the University of Mount Union on Twitch and host spectators in the Fish Bowl on campus to cheer on the Muskies. The Twitch link is https://www.twitch.tv/lakelandesports.
LU’s Rocket League team, which includes Donald Pratl, Alex Burbach and Quinn Bradford, opened nationals play this past weekend with a tough best-of-5 series against Huntingdon College White, the team that knocked them out of playoffs just two weeks prior.
Lakeland started the series off strong by winning game one, 4-2, then won game two in overtime, 4-3. Huntingdon stormed back with a pair of 4-3 wins to even the series, but Lakeland stayed levelheaded and put the series away with a convincing 5-1 win to move on to the quarterfinals.
Lakeland swept the University of Saint Mary in the national quarterfinals, 4-1, 5-3 and 3-2 to advance to the semifinals.
“Our Rocket League team has been putting in the hours to prepare for this nationals tournament,” said Lakeland esports head coach Brett Sheldon. “They proved themselves in round one against a very tough Huntingdon roster and will have to do so again against the University of Mount Union. It should be a great series and I am excited to see where this team can go.”
Omega Strikers
Lakeland’s Omega Strikers team competed in the CCL National Spring bracket this past weekend. Lakeland entered as the ninth seeded team looking to grab a second national title in Omega Strikers.
Lakeland opened the weekend with a three-game nail bitter against Fairfield esports and advancing to the next round where the Muskies faced the No. 1 seeded NJIT Esports. Lakeland lost to NJIT in the double elimination tournament and entered the losers bracket to eye a run back to the finals.
Lakeland rattled off 2-0 wins against Auburn, Oklahoma State and Saint Louis University to make it to the semifinals of the losers bracket. The Muskies lost 2-0 to St. Clari esports and were knocked out of the tournament.
The team, which includes Nick Sorensen, Ethan Jacquart and Damon Ducat, finished in the top four in the nation to remain one of the most competitive Omega Strikers teams in the country.
“This team consistently performs at a high level because of their dedication and grit,” Sheldon said. “Unfortunately, we came up short this year, but knowing this group it will only be used a fuel to come back better next fall. I am incredibly proud of their performance and progression over the course of this semester.”
