12/9/25
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College Esports Rocket League completed an incredible comeback and captured its third-ever National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE) championship with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Daytona State College (FL) on Tuesday evening.
 
The Falcons (18-13), unbeaten in the national tournament at 3-0, came into Tuesday night's bout with the champion's advantage, needing to be defeated twice to lose out on the national title. The Falcons from DSC, meanwhile, needed first to beat Iowa Western CC in the elimination bracket final to make the Grand Final.
 
After dispatching the Reivers with ease, it was Daytona State College which held an early advantage, winning games one, two, and three in the best-of-seven match by scores of 3-1, 2-0, and 3-0. Lackawanna struggled to get on the same page on defense, and Daytona State dictated the pace. Daytona, which had gone unbeaten against the Falcons in three previous matches through the regular season and the DI East Playoffs, was on the doorstep to taking the first match and forcing a bracket reset and a winner-take-all match for the title.
 
On the ropes and down 3-0, Lackawanna got a much-needed break to reset when the game unexpectedly updated, forcing both teams to wait nearly 20 minutes to resume game four. That break proved to be a momentum-killer for Daytona State 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. The national title is the third for Lackawanna College in Rocket League, and the first since the Falcons won it all in the Fall 2023 semester.