Esports opens postseason play
MEQUON, Wis. – The Falcons began postseason play this past week and continued to grow as a program. The CUW esports team also secured another playoff spot in a key week of competitions for the Blue and White.
"It is crazy how much we are still learning," said head coach Lewis Smith. "The Rocket League and Smash teams are playing the best I have ever seen them play. A lot of it was about practicing and improving our skills, but the larger shift for us was just mentality. Learning about what type of mental state we perform the best in. It is really bringing us to that next level."
On Friday night, the Super Smash Bros team of junior Gideon Cain (Cedarburg, Wis.), sophomore Angel Uriostegui (Round Lake, Ill.), junior Ryan Schroeder (Seattle, Wash.) and junior Nathanael Quezada (St. Charles, Mo.) sank Concordia St. Paul in the "battle of Concordias" to secure a playoff spot. The Falcons secured a 2-0 victory on the night. Gideon Cain helped the Falcons cruise to a 12-4 victory in the first game as Wolf with 10 kills. Angel Uriostegui captured eight kills as Byleth in the second game to win 12-4.
"This was a fun win for a few reasons," said Smith. "We will always have a fun rivalry with CSP, so it was nice to get the first program win over them. More importantly, we are coming into playoffs in peak shape, ready to make some national noise."
The Falcons will now face Central Michigan in the First Round of the NACE Smash Playoffs.
Hearthstone opened the week with a 2-3 loss to Me Go Face 3 on Wednesday.
On Saturday, the team of senior Charles Kingma (Port Washington, Wis.) and junior Jack Kral (Kohler, Wis.) competed in the Fall Split Playoffs, where they fell 1-3 and 2-3.
The Blue and White closed the week with a 1-3 loss in the HCC Split Two Round Four.
The NACE season ended on a high note with the team of senior Alex Reimer (Sheboygan, Wis.), senior Ethan Koch (Fredericksburg, Iowa), junior Andrew Burk (Townsend, Del.) and junior Austin Esterly (Lombard, Ill.) with a 3-2 victory over Central Michigan. Koch and Esterly both finished the game with four goals on the evening, Esterly also added four saves.
"That felt good," said Koch. "That felt nice and comfortable. I still had my fair share of whiffs, but my teammates backed me up so the whiffs and they didn't sink us."
In the PlayVS competitions, CUW started with a 0-3 loss to Auburn but secured a 3-1 victory over Lafayette to close the week. Koch secured 12 saves on the evening, including 10 against Lafayette. Esterly downed six goals and five assists.
"We were a lot more ready and warmed up for this match," said Esterly. "We should've gotten two wins tonight, but just came in cold. It was nice to secure the victory."
Monday night saw the Falcons finish the week with a 53rd-place finish out of 144 teams in the Fortnite PlayVS Week Six Tournament. The team of freshman Kodee Keys (Dupo, Ill.), sophomore Austin Lichtenstein (Johnsburg, Ill.) and sophomore Colby Williams (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) will compete again this upcoming week. Lichtenstein had five eliminations.
"We did not have a good week, said Williams. "We could not get to the end of the game with all three of us alive. It was always two of us or just one of us. Then in two games we dropped somewhere we didn't know so we died. So yeah, in all it was just a bad week."
The Falcons will look to soar once again in this upcoming week.
