Loyola Smash Bros. wins three straight

NEW ORLEANS – The Wolf Pack Esports team won three of its four matches this week, getting wins in Overwatch and Super Smash Bros. Premier. The undefeated Loyola Overwatch team beat Texas A&M University-San Antonio on Tuesday, 3-0. Then, the Wolf Pack played a rescheduled Super Smash Bros. match against Dallas Baptist University on Wednesday, winning 2-0. The Premier team played once again on Thursday, getting a win over Blinn College. To end the week, the Smash Bros. Plus team competed against Ole Miss, falling 2-0.

Wolf Pack Overwatch will continue on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 6 p.m. against Concordia College (Minn.). Smash Bros. action will be back on Thursday at 6 pm. against Southern Miss and the University of Central Missouri with Premier and Plus, respectively. Loyola fans can tune into the action at https://www.twitch.tv/loynoesports with the Super Smash Bros. Plus team competing at https://www.youtube.com/@loynoesports2.

On Tuesday, the Wolf Pack Overwatch squad took a sweeping victory over Texas A&M University-San Antonio, 3-0. The match began on Lijiang Tower with Loyola getting a 100-0 win in round one. After Loyola got to 66% in the second round, TAMU managed to retake the objective. Not long after though, ultimates from Mark Violante and Dashiell Hazzard helped Loyola take back the point to secure the second round and the first set.

On King's Row, a strong push led by Matthew Marshall's D.Va captured the payload to start round one. While the Loyola payload kept moving, the TAMU defense held strong to force the round into overtime. Loyola, however, moved the payload to its destination to head into the second round with a 3-0 lead. TAMU had a much stronger round two, tying the set up at 3-3, while also leaving 1:48 on the clock. 

In the third round, Loyola's attack captured the payload once again. Then, Stirling Downes and Maya Hernandez kept Loyola's front lines alive to help Loyola reach 99 meters before being stopped. In round four, the Wolf Pack defense blocked TAMU from reaching the objective to secure Loyola's second-set win.

On the flashpoint map Suravasa, Loyola continued to dominate. The Pack never allowed the opponents to score, capturing each point to 100% and winning the match. Loyola's 3-0 win on Tuesday is also its third straight sweep, putting them at a 4-0 overall record.

On Thursday, the Wolf Pack Smash Bros. Premier team competed well against Blinn College. The match started with Anthony Nodolski's Olimar getting three straight victories to bring Blinn to its last fighter. Nodolski started by beating Bowser, then sweeping Jigglypuff, finishing the run by taking down Lucina. After Blinn's Sephiroth eliminated Olimar, Lily Neeley's Lucina ended the first set, trading stocks to get the win, 1-1.

Samuel Spiegel began the second crew battle by beating Blinn's Corrin with Steve. After Blinn's Bowser hit Spiegel out of the ring. Malachi Lee's Terry matched Nodolski by taking down three opponents to secure Loyola's win and third straight victory.

Premier Results

First Crew Battle:

Olimar (Anthony Nodolski) def. Bowser (BC), 3-1
Olimar (Anthony Nodolski) def. Jigglypuff (BC), 3-0
Olimar (Anthony Nodolski) def. Lucina (BC), 3-1
Sephiroth (BC) def. Olimar (Anthony Nodolski),1-2
Lucina (Lily Neeley) def. Sephiroth (BC), 1-1
Loyola leads match, 1-0

Second Crew Battle:

Steve (Samuel Spiegel) def. Corrin (BC), 3-2
Bowser (BC) def. Steve (Samuel Spiegel), 1-2
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. Bowser (BC), 1-0
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. Sephiroth (BC), 3-1
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. Lucina (BC), 3-0
Loyola wins match, 2-0

Plus Results

First Crew Battle:

Wolf (Lucian Payne) def. Ganondorf (MISS), 3-2
Hero (MISS) def. Wolf (Lucian Payne), 1-0
Hero (MISS) def. Sonic (Leyton Gould), 3-1
Hero (MISS) def. Terry (Evan Sakryd), 3-0
Hero (MISS) def. Toon Link (Daven-Angelo Montalbano), 3-2
Ole Miss leads match, 1-0

Second Crew Battle:

Ganondorf (MISS) def. Wolf (Lucian Payne), 3-2
Sonic (Leyton Gould) def. Ganondorf (MISS), 1-1
King Dedede (MISS) def. Sonic (Leyton Gould), 2-1
Terry (Evan Sakryd) def. King Dedede (MISS), 2-2
Hero (MISS) def. Terry (Evan Sakryd), 1-1
Toon Link (Daven-Angelo Montalbano) def. Hero (MISS), 2-2
Wolf (MISS) def. Toon Link (Daven-Angelo Montalbano), 1-1
Ole Miss wins match, 2-0