12/6/21

SCRANTON, Pa. -- The Lackawanna College Esports Valorant squad fought valiantly, but ultimately fell 2-1 to Madison College in a match to remember on Monday night, in the NJCAAE Playoff semi-finals.

The first map of the evening was Haven, and the Falcons chose defense to start. Madison showed their prowess on offense, besting the Falcons in eight of the first 12 rounds, and taking a 9-4 lead after the side-change. Lackawanna College would mount a furious rally, rattling off rounds to get back to even. Still, the Wolfpack had match-point at 12-10, when the Falcons made another big run, securing the next four rounds, including two overtime rounds, to take the first map 14-12, and take a 1-0 lead in the match. It was a map that would typify the match-up, with the Falcons using their teamwork and strategy to overcome a ruthless, capitalizing offensive from Madison College. This week's Lackawanna College Athlete of the Week, Edwin Acosta (Gamertag: Axomaly), sat atop the leaderboard with a KDA of 29/17/2, with Douglas Morrissey (Gamertag: Globe) right beside him going 26/17/7.

Madison College chose Icebox for the second map, and they quickly showed why. The Wolfpack were dominant from start to finish, opening up a 9-3 lead on their attacking rounds, and then holding the Falcons in check after the switch to win 13-3, evening the best-of-three match at one apiece.

The Falcons chose Ascent as the final map of the evening. This map was close, much like the first map of the evening, but it wasn't dominance one way or the other. The Falcons started on offense, and took an early advantage at 5-2, but the Wolfpack battled back to win a few rounds, making it 7-5 Falcons at the switch. Once the sides changed, and Madison took over on offense, the Wolfpack and Falcons traded blows up until things were tied at ten apiece. From there, Madison found the extra gear, as the Wolfpack won the next three rounds, sealing the win in the 23rd round at 13-10, giving themselves the 2-1 victory for the match and a berth in the NJCAAE championships..
 
With the loss, Lackawanna College's season ends in the semi-final round of the NJCAAE tournament. It was the first loss of the year for Lackawanna College, which went 10-1 in matches competed (11-1 with a forfeit win). The Falcons will finish third out of 45 participants.

The Valorant loss means that there is only one Esports team still competing in the Fall 2021 season: Overwatch. The Overwatch team is still hunting for their championship spot. Overwatch will play Bryant & Stratton on Friday, December 10th at 6:00pm ETin their NJCAAE semi-final match. All the action will be live on the Lackawanna College Twitch channel at twitch.tv/lackawannaedu.