12/4/21

SCRANTON, Pa. -- Despite some adversity, the Lackawanna College Esports Valorant team rallied to remain undefeated and advance into the semi-finals of the NJCAAE playoffs with a wild 2-1 win over Bismarck State College on Saturday night.

The best-of-three series opened on Split, with the Falcons starting off on defense. Lackawanna College started out strong, winning the first two rounds in a row, but from here on out, it would be a battle back-and-forth. At the side change, the Falcons had a little bit of a cushion with a 7-5 lead. The Falcons' offensive rounds started out a bit shaky, as BSC was able to win five rounds in a row, taking back the momentum and giving themselves a two round lead of their own. The Falcons showed their resiliency, however, and kept their composure, winning the next two rounds in order to tie up the match at nine apiece. BSC was playing lights out defense, barely giving Lackawanna any room to get on point. The Mystics would take the next two rounds away from the Falcons, but Lackawanna College wouldn't go away and continued to push onto point in order to even out the scoreline. They would do just that, tying the game up in the 22nd round at 11. In the next round, Edwin Acosta (Gamertag: Axomaly) secured the overtime round with a beautiful four-piece to win the round. The Mystics would level the score once again at 12-all, but Lackawanna College was determined to move on to the next map, and picked up a pair of victories to give them the map at 14-12, and a 1-0 lead in the match. 
 
The second map of the night was selected as Ascent, where Lackawanna College would, once again, start out on defense. Bismarck State College came out of the gates swinging, winning the first seven rounds in a row, and taking a 10-2 lead against Lackawanna at the side change. The Falcons took over on offense, and initially it looked like BSC would take the map, stretching their lead to match-point at 12-2, but the Falcons finally found their groove and started rattling off wins. With the slightest bit of momentum, the Falcons won the next six rounds in a row to begin to close the gap. The Mystics would shut the door in the 21st round, taking the map 13-8 and knotting the series at 1-apiece. It was the first time the Falcons had lost a map all season long.
 
The third map of the evening was set to Icebox, a map the Falcons normally don't play on, and aren't super familiar with. Lackawanna College would start out on defense yet again, and promptly dropped the first two rounds to BSC. The Falcons would recover, and the battle between the two sides raged on into the side change with Lackawanna College ahead 7-5. In the opening attack round for the Falcons, Doug Morrissey (Gamertag: Globe) popped off with an ACE (5 kills) and gave all the momentum and confidence that Lackawanna College needed to keep the pressure up on offense. With fast-paced pushes and strategic utility usage, Lackawanna College kept up the aggression and went on to win the final map with a score of 13-6, only dropping one round on offense and sealing the NJCAAE quarterfinal win over Bismarck State College, 2-1.
 
Series KDA:
Edwin Acosta (Gamertag: Axomaly) - 67 / 47 / 12
Doug Morrissey (Gamertag: Globe) - 65 / 43 / 19
Nathan Ayers (Gamertag: Quakian) - 44 / 45 / 32
Caden Delaney (Gamertag: bozi) - 38 / 44 / 20
Lucas Fein (Gamertag: Shmippy) - 17 / 27 / 11
Anthony Smith (Gamertag: gummypwns) - 7 / 22 / 9
 
Lackawanna College moves on to face the Madison College Wolfpack in the NJCAAE Valorant Semifinals which will be played Monday, December 6th at 7:00pm EST. Be sure to tune in on our Twitch channel to support our squad! twitch.tv/lackawannaedu.