10/24/22  
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Rocket League squad had mixed results in its doubleheader on Monday night, winning in impressive fashion in its NJCAAE match-up, but dropping its first series of the year in its NACE Starleague match on Monday night.
 
Series One: Lackawanna 3 – 0 Tallahassee CC
The Falcons were victorious in match one on the evening, sweeping past Tallahassee CC 3-0 (7-3, 9-2, 12-0) in NJCAAE action. While Tallahassee CC started out the series strong by putting away the first goal, Matthew Kelly (Jenkintown, PA; Gamertag: JKfoshizzle) scored the equalizer soon after, followed by another goal to take the lead, one which the Falcons would never surrender. Between the three Falcon players, the Falcons scored a total of 27 goals, putting over 50 shots on target. Tallahassee was rarely able to control the ball long enough to get it out of their half before Lackawanna College would swoop in and regain possession. Kelly led the Falcons with ten goals and nine assists, while Guadalupe Oca (Eagle Pass, TX; Gamertag: AyeOca) had eight goals and seven assists, and Caden Delaney (Honesdale, PA; Gamertag: bozi) had nine goals and eight assists. The 3-0 sweep takes the Falcons to 4-0 in the NJCAAE, where they have yet to drop a single match in any series.
 

Lackawanna College vs. Tallahassee CC
Player	Goals	Assists	Saves	Shots
Caden "bozi" Delaney	9	8	5	13
Matthew "JKfoshizzle" Kelly	10	9	3	21
Guadalupe "AyeOca" Oca IV	8	7	3	17
Total	27	24	11	51

 

Game	Score
1	7 - 3
2	9 - 2
3	12 - 0

 
Series Two: University of Michigan-Flint 4 – 2 Lackawanna College
In the second series of the evening, the competition was stepped up significantly for Lackawanna College, as the Falcons took on the Wolverines from the University of Michigan-Flint in NACE Starleague action. The Falcons fought valiantly, recovering from a shaky start to force the best-of-seven to a sixth match, but the Wolverines pulled out an impressive 4-2 (2-1, 1-0, 3-2, 2-3, 0-1, 2-1) victory to hand Lackawanna their first loss of the season in Rocket League play. The Wolverines controlled the action early, but both teams traded points and attacks, with Flint always slightly ahead of Lackawanna. The Wolverines kept beating the Falcons to 50/50 balls, and seemed to close their defensive space much quicker than the Falcons were able to keep possession. Lackawanna were a little flustered during the opening sequences and just couldn't get any rhythm going on offense and defense. UM wasn't much better than the Falcons on offense, but the Wolverines were opportunistic, taking advantage of several Falcon turnovers in the first three matches, winning each match by a one-goal margin to take a commanding 3-0 lead.
 
In match four, the Falcons fell behind 2-0, and all seemed lost, but that's when Lackawanna mounted a bit of a comeback. At 2:03 in the match, Kelly bounced a pass backwards to Oca, whose shot was slightly off target on the left post. It bounced back to Kelly, who fired towards the net, where Delaney was waiting to punch it in and give the Falcons a goal. Just over 20 seconds later, Lackawanna found the equalizer, when a turnover in the right corner by the Wolverines resulted in the Falcons centering a pass to Delaney, who punched it in to tied things up at 2-all. Another 20 seconds ticked by, and Kelly pounced on a loose ball in the Wolverine defensive zone to make it 3-2 Falcons, a margin they'd hold to take match four.
 
In match five, Lackawanna continued to fight back, with another Kelly goal, this time off an assist from Oca, gave the Falcons an early 1-0 lead. Things were tight throughout the match, with Lackawanna missing on a few close calls, and also making some solid stops to keep the Wolverines off the board. That frantic defense would pay off, as the Falcons won match five, 1-0, cutting the series to a 3-2 deficit.
 
Match six was tight for the opening two minutes, but it would be the Falcons who found the breakthrough, taking advantage of an overcommit on offense from Flint, and getting a long-distance goal on a wide open net from Oca to make it 1-0. The Wolverines responded with more pressure, knotting it up at 1-all just a minute later off a deflected shot. About a minute later, the Falcons turned the ball over in their own defensive zone and the Wolverines capitalized on the mistake, making it 2-1 with under a minute to play. Lackawanna pushed for the equalizer but couldn't hang onto possession, eventually falling 2-1 and dropping the match at 4-2.
 
The Lackawanna College Rocket League squad will be back on-stream Monday, 10/31 at 7pm versus Mass Bay Community College. Be sure to tune into the Lackawanna College Esports Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all Lackawanna College Esports scheduling.