Loyola Esports competes in Smash Bros. regular-season finale

NEW ORLEANS – With Call of Duty and Smash Bros. Premier in a bye week, the Pack competed in two matches of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. After dominating last week's Sun Conference matchup, Loyola fell to Keiser University in their final match of the regular season, 2-0. On Thursday, the NACE Plus team swept John Brown University (Ark.), collecting the fourth win of the season, 2-0. The Loyola Smash Bros. Plus team stands at an overall record of 4-1, tied for the first seed in the East 8 Conference with UNC Greensboro.
 

The Pack will begin the week with Call of Duty on Wednesday, competing against West Texas A&M University at 7:30 p.m. Then, both Smash Bros. Premier and Plus will play at 6 p.m. on Thursday, playing against Truman State University and UNC Greensboro. All of the matches will be streamed at https://www.youtube.com/@loynoesports. The Smash Bros. Plus team will be livestreaming on the LoynoEsports2 YouTube channel. 
 

On Tuesday, the Wolf Pack played a tough opponent in the Keiser Seahawks, dropping the match, 2-0. The Seahawks started the match with a win over Anthony Nodolski's Olimar. Then, Samuel Spiegal got the win over KU's Link, 2-0. KU's Zelda entered the match to take down two consecutive Wolf Pack players. Makari Jackson took down Zelda's last stock to advance to KU's third fighter. Then, Keiser's Ridley traded stocks with Jackson to take the first set.
 

In the second set, Jackson's Terry got the win over KU's Link, 3-2. However, KU's Luigi took away the last stock of Jackson. Nodolski's Olimar took a close victory over Luigi, 3-2. Just as she did in the first set, Zelda took down two opponents. Then, Ameer Joseph eliminated Zelda, before falling to KU's Young Link in the final fight. Keiser's victory over Bayonetta secured the second set, winning them the match.
 

In Thursday's match, the Wolf Pack had a strong outing against John Brown University. JBU's Joker got the win over Evan Sakryd's Mii Gunner. Then, Leyton Gould's Sonic eliminated Joker's final stocks. After Gould fell to Captain Falcon, Joaquin Vazquez defeated F-Zero's mascot with Young Link, 2-2. JBU's Ridley took down Vazquez, but Daven-Angelo Montalbano made quick work of both Ridley and Byleth to take the first set.
 

This time, Vazquez used Link to start the crew battle, eliminating Joker, 3-2. JBU's Ridley got going, putting away two of Loyola's fighters. Gould's Mario dusted Ridley before falling to JBU's Pit. Once again, Montalbano's Toon Link wiped away the rest of JBU's squad to take the 2-0 victory.
 

Sun Conference Results

First Crew Battle:

Link (KU) def. Olimar (Anthony Nodolski), 3-1
Roy (Samuel Spiegal) def. Link (KU), 2-0
Zelda (KU) def. Roy (Samuel Spiegal), 3-1
Zelda (KU) def. Bayonetta (Ameer Joseph), 3-1
Terry (Makari Jackson) def. Zelda (KU), 1-2
Ridley (KU) def. Terry (Makari Jackson), 1-1
Keiser leads match, 1-0
 

Second Crew Battle:

Terry (Makari Jackson) def. Link (KU), 3-2
Luigi (KU) def. Terry (Makari Jackson), 1-0
Olimar (Anthony Nodolski) def. Luigi (KU), 3-2
Zelda (KU) def. Olimar (Anthony Nodolski), 1-0
Zelda (KU) def. Roy (Samuel Spiegal), 3-2
Bayonetta (Ameer Joseph) def. Zelda (KU), 1-2
Young Link (KU) def. Bayonetta (Ameer Joseph), 1-0
Keiser wins match, 2-0

NACE Plus Results

First Crew Battle:

Joker (JBU) def. Evan Sakryd (Mii Gunner), 3-1
Sonic (Leyton Gould) def. Joker (JBU), 2-1
Captain Falcon (JBU) def. Sonic (Leyton Gould), 2-1
Young Link (Joaquin Vazquez) def. Captain Falcon (JBU), 2-2
Ridley (JBU) def. Young Link (Joaquin Vazquez), 1-0
Toon Link (Daven-Angelo Montalbano) def. Ridley (JBU), 3-1
Toon Link (Daven-Angelo Montalbano) def. Byleth (JBU), 3-1
Loyola leads match, 1-0
 

Second Crew Battle:

Link (Joaquin Vazquez) def. Joker (JBU), 3-2
Ridley (JBU) def. Link (Joaquin Vazquez), 1-1
Ridley (JBU) def. Evan Sakryd (Mii Gunner), 3-1
Mario (Leyton Gould) def. Ridley (JBU), 1-2
Pit (JBU) def. Mario (Leyton Gould), 1-0
Toon Link (Daven-Angelo Montalbano) def. Pit (JBU), 3-1
Toon Link (Daven-Angelo Montalbano) def. Captain Falcon (JBU), 3-1
Loyola wins match, 2-0