Loyola Esports program wins first Call of Duty match

NEW ORLEANS – The Pack competed in three matches this week in Overwatch 2, Call of Duty, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. On Tuesday night, the Pack fell to Kansas State University's Overwatch team, 0-3. After three forfeits and a bye week, the Wolf Pack Call of Duty squad got the first win in program history on Wednesday night, taking a 3-2 win over Neumont College of Computer Science A. Now, Loyola's Call of Duty team stands at 4-0, tied for first in the conference standings. On Thursday night, the Smash Bros. Plus team competed against Southern Miss.
 

In the next match, the Wolf Pack Overwatch team will play on Tuesday, Oct. 31 against Nichols College at 6 p.m. The undefeated Loyola Call of Duty team will attempt to bring their win streak to five against the undefeated Clarke University team on Wednesday, Nov. 1. On Thursday, Smash Bros. Plus will compete against Ole Miss on Oct. 26, at 6 p.m. Overwatch 2, Call of Duty, and Smash Bros. Plus matches will be live-streamed at https://www.youtube.com/@loynoesports. 
 

The Call of Duty team began Wednesday night's match winning the first set. In the second set of Search and Destroy, Neumont got the victory to tie the best-of-five match. In the third set of the Control game mode, the Wolf Pack showed out to take a lead with Adeola Apata leading the match with 52 kills. Keagan Authement got in the action too, getting the final kill to secure the set. In Hardpoint, Neumont took the third set to take a 2-1 lead. In the fifth set, Wilhelmina Roccaforte-Kostecky led the Pack with 11 kills. Sebastian Guin also made an impact on the match's final set, getting nine kills to help the Pack seal the victory.
 

In Smash Bros. Plus, the Pack lost a close match to Southern Miss, 2-1. Joaquin Vazquez started off the first set, taking down Bowser, 3-2. After Vazquez fell to Corrin, 1-1, Evan Sakryd defeated USM's fighter, 2-2. Then, USM's Pokémon Trainer won two straight fights against Loyola, taking down Sakryd's Mii Gunner and Daven-Angelo Montalbano's Toon Link. Leyton Gould's Sonic took Pokémon Trainer's last stock and defeated USM's final fighter to take the first crew battle.
 

USM's Hero started the second set with a win but fell to Gould in the second fight. Then, USM's Banjo-Kazooie traded stocks with Gould for a victory. Sakryd's Mii Gunner managed a victory, but it was not enough to beat USM's Donkey Kong. Vazquez took down DK, but with only one stock left, it would not be enough to beat Pokémon Trainer. After USM's victory, they tied the match to force a match-deciding third set.
 

In the final crew battle, Donkey Kong defeated both Vazquez and Sakryd. Montalbano's Ridley did not let Donkey Kong's run continue. Down two fighters, the Wolf Pack had to play catch-up. USM's Banjo-Kazooie defeated Montalbano to retain the lead. Although Gould defeated the Bear and Bird duo, it would not be enough to defeat USM's final fighter in Hero. With USM's victory over the Wolf Pack, Loyola falls to a 1-3 record with a chance to take down the undefeated Ole Miss team on Thursday, Nov. 2, at 6 p.m.

Super Smash Bros. Plus Results

First Crew Battle:

Link (Joaquin Vazquez) def. Bowser (USM), 3-2
Corrin (USM) def. Link (Joaquin Vazquez), 1-1
Mii Gunner (Evan Sakryd) def. Corrin (USM), 2-2
Pokémon Trainer (USM) def. Mii Gunner (Evan Sakryd), 1-0
Pokémon Trainer (USM) def. Toon Link (Daven-Angelo Montalbano), 3-2
Sonic (Leyton Gould) def. Pokémon Trainer (USM), 1-0
Sonic (Leyton Gould) def. Hero (USM), 3-2
Loyola leads match, 1-0
 

Second Crew Battle:

Hero (USM) def. Toon Link (Daven-Angelo Montalbano), 3-1
Sonic (Leyton Gould) def. Hero (USM), 2-2
Banjo-Kazooie (USM) def. Sonic (Leyton Gould), 1-1
Mii Gunner (Evan Sakryd) def. Banjo-Kazooie (USM), 2-2
Donkey Kong (USM) def. Mii Gunner (Evan Sakryd), 1-0
Link (Joaquin Vazquez) def. Donkey Kong (USM), 3-2
Pokémon Trainer (USM) def. Link (Joaquin Vazquez), 1-1
USM ties match, 1-1
 

Third Crew Battle:

Donkey Kong (USM) def. Link (Joaquin Vazquez), 3-1
Donkey Kong (USM) def. Mii Gunner (Evan Sakryd), 3-0
Ridley (Daven-Angelo Montalbano) def. Donkey Kong (USM), 2-1
Banjo-Kazooie (USM) def. Ridley (Daven-Angelo Montalbano), 2-1
Sonic (Leyton Gould) def. Banjo-Kazooie (USM), 2-1
Hero (USM) def. Sonic (Leyton Gould), 2-1
USM wins match, 2-1