9/7/21

The Lackawanna Rocket League squad fell in their season opener, 3-0 (1-0, 4-2, 2-1), to the Temple Owls on Tuesday night.

While the Falcons fought hard in the best-of-5 matchup, they could not overcome the fast-paced Owls on offense and defense. The first round was indicative of both team's skill on defense, as neither team could break a scoreless deadlock until 38 seconds remained in the opening frame, when Temple finally found the breakthrough on a rebound score. From there, the Owls held off the Falcons to win the first round.

Lackawanna College, playing with a new squad this year, brought in some new faces for the second round, but quickly found themselves in a 4-0 hole, barely two minutes in. The young Falcons fought back, kick started by a goal at the 3:09 mark from Justin Bryk (brick six paths), who corralled a loose ball and launched a shot over the Temple defense from the center circle that got deflected in. The Falcons would strike again in the 2nd frame when Caden Delaney (bozi) got off a shot from the right side of the map that fizzed into the bottom right corner with 1:37 to play in the round. Temple would hold on for the win, setting the stage for match point in the 3rd frame.

There, the Falcons starters returned, and, after nearly three minutes of near-misses and big defensive deflections, Keenan Lewis (fesbot) managed to get a clean look straight on goal, burying it down the center and staking Lackawanna College to their first lead with 2:01 to play in the 3rd round. From there, the Owls would ramp up the pressure, and find the equalizer with 1:05 to play on a pass off the top frame of the goal to a wide-open Owl in the center to tap it home. Both teams would scratch and claw the final minute until the time ran out, and sudden death overtime began. Eleven seconds into the OT period, Lewis and Juan Garcia (jaepster) would combine on a spectacular aerial save, only to have Temple pounce on the rebound and score the match winner.

The young Falcons played well together, but the pressure and rotation from Temple proved to be too much. On top of the goal scored, Caden Delaney (bozi) also put up nine saves, while Keenan Lewis (fesbot) and Justin Bryk (brick six paths) had the other two goals for Lackawanna College. 

The Falcons are back in action next Tuesday, 9/14 at 7:00pm ET for their next NACE Rocket League matchup versus Drexel University. Stay tuned to the Lackawanna College Esports Facebook and Twitter for more scheduling updates, and where and when to watch their livestreams.