12/28/25

SCRANTON, Pa. -- For the third-straight year, Lackawanna College Athletics will review the past 12 months and highlight the top 14 athletics stories and moments from the year that was. 

Today's top event from 2025 comes to us from Lackawanna College Esports and the incredible Falcons Rocket League squad.

#4: Rocket League Wins NJCAAE Fall National Championship
Playing in two different leagues, the Lackawanna College Rocket League squad entered the NJCAAE Fall 2025 Playoffs with an overall mark of 12-11, hoping to recapture some of the magic that earned the squad back-to-back NJCAAE titles in the spring and fall semesters in 2023.

The Falcons caught fire at just the right time, finishing second in the DI East Playoffs to secure a national tournament berth, and then sweeping past the competition in the NJCAAE Division I National Tournament to capture the Fall 2025 championship, the third national title for the Rocket League squad.

It started with a tough five-game loss to Iowa Western in the opening round of the east playoffs, shooting the Falcons down to the consolation bracket. After beating Brookdale CC, the Falcons once again faced the Reivers, staring elimination in the face. Lackawanna avenged that earlier loss with an impressive 3-1 victory, taking games one and two by a combined 8-2 score, then smothering Iowa Western in the fourth game, 2-0, to clinch the win and a spot in the final against the vaunted Falcons from Daytona State College in Florida.

The DSC Falcons, unbeaten against the Falcons on the year, won in a 3-0 sweep, but two of those games in the Grand Final were by one score. Lackawanna had qualified for the national tournament, and now the Falcons had a feel for what to expect on the big stage.

It started with a 3-1 victory against Salt Lake CC in the first round. The Falcons took a comfortable 2-0 lead, dropped game three in a wild 6-4 contest, then won 6-1 to win it in four. They next faced Heartland CC in the second round bout. The Hawks from Illinois led 2-1 after the first three games, but the Falcons exploded out of the gate in games four and five, winning by scores of 5-0 and 7-2 to take the bout, 3-2, and clinch a spot in the winner's bracket final.

Waiting for the Falcons on the other side was old foe Iowa Western, which had pulled the upset on Daytona in the first round to send DSC to the elimination bracket. Lackawanna made sure to avoid facing DSC in the elimination rounds with an impressive winner's bracket final victory over the Reivers, 3-1, winning the first two games by narrow 4-2 and 3-2 scores, and then taking game four by a 5-2 score to reach the Grand Final.

In the elimination bracket, Daytona State College beat Laramie County CC, Heartland CC, Columbia Basin, and then Iowa Western CC, all by 3-0 sweeps, to make it an all-Falcon Grand Final on Tuesday, December 9th.

In the fourth match-up between the two sides on the year, Daytona lept out to to the 3-0 advantage by winning the first three games by scores of 3-1, 2-0, and 3-0. With the offense stuck in the mud, it looked likely that Lackawanna would drop game four and then everything would hinge on a best-of-four, winner-take-all match immediately following.

However, a curious thing caused a delay: The game software unexpectedly updated. It forced a 20 minute break for both teams to reset themselves, and it proved to be a momentum-killer for DSC, and a wake-up call for Lackawanna College.

After only scoring one goal in the first three games, Lackawanna scored three in game four. It started with a Matthew Kelly (JKfoshizzle) goal barely a minute in to give Lackawanna some life. After DSC scored twice to go ahead 2-1, JK scored another to tie things up. Christopher Nirode (Knight) scored the winner for the Falcons late, and Lackawanna staved off the winner-take-all match for one more game. They'd do it again, this time by a 2-1 margin, in game five, thanks to a pair of JK goals.
 
Entering game six, the Falcons scored just 14 seconds in on a Knight deflection down off the wall. Knight scored again before a minute came off the clock, and JK added a third to put the Falcons up 3-0 before the midway point of the game. A shell-shocked DSC scored to get themselves going at 3-1, but JK, followed by Conner Lewis (3.14) added to the margin and the Falcons forced a game seven with their 5-1 victory.
 
In the decider, Knight broke a deadlock 90 seconds in when DSC misplayed the ball, leaving him with a wide-open breakaway to make it 1-0. He added a second on the restart, when JK beat the DSC players to the ball, and it ricocheted into the path of Knight, who blasted it into the Daytona goal from almost midfield to go ahead 2-0 with 3:25 remaining. About 40 seconds later, DSC scored to get on the board at 2-1, but JK added a crucial third goal just a minute later. As Knight drove in from the left side, he centered a pass to JK, whose car was floating in from the top down. JK bounced the ball off the wall on the left side and quickly deflected that shot into the net to make it 3-1, Falcons. 3.14 added a fourth goal just ten seconds later on a wide-open net, and Lackawanna saw out the win from there, despite a Daytona goal with a minute to play, completing the miraculous comeback for the reverse sweep and the national title.
 
Kelly finished with seven goals in the final four games, while Nirode scored five goals, including two in the game seven clincher. After a middling regular season, the Falcons got hot at the right time, going 7-2 in their nine playoff games, and winning a national championship with a miraculous reverse sweep. Twice in their playoff run, the Falcons had to come back from the brink to pull out victories.

Top 14 Moments Of 2025 For Lackawanna College Athletics  
14) Women's Wrestling Makes History With Dual Victories
13) Coaching Changes Bring New Faces, Perspectives
12) First-Team All-Region Performances For MBB And WBB
11) Lackawanna Wrestling Sends Five To Nationals
10) Lackawanna College Esports Raises $7K For Charity
9) 57 Student-Athletes Named All-Academic NJCAA
8) Hofmann Named POTY, Falcons Earn All-Season Nods
7) Emmalee Mowery Named As NJCAA All-American In Softball
6) Three Football Falcons Earn All-American Honors
5) Hughes Wins Region POTY, One Of Two All-Americans For Falcons
4) Rocket League Wins NJCAAE Fall 2025 National Championship
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