Loyola Esports splits matches this week

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans Esports program entered its fourth week of competition on Monday, facing Minnesota State, Mankato in Overwatch and the University of Houston-Downtown in Super Smash Bros. The Overwatch team fell in straight sets to Mankato on Monday before the Wolf Pack swept UHD on Thursday.

Loyola's Overwatch squad will enter a bye week, while the Smash Bros. team will face Texas A&M International University on Thursday at 6 p.m. The Wolf Pack Loyola's esports matches will be live-streamed on twitch.tv/loynoesports. 

Minnesota State, Mankato put together a strong effort against the Wolf Pack on Monday night. Mankato quickly claimed the first set on Lijiang Tower before the teams traveled to King's Row for set two. The second set started with Loyola on the attacker's side. A push led by Braden Garfield's Orisa and Mason Wheaton helped the Pack capture the payload.

The Mankato defense was formidable from that point on, stopping the Wolf Pack before it could reach the first checkpoint. Mankato continued to play well through the set to take the match to its final location.

After Mankato took the first point on Flashpoint, the Pack strung together a few plays to take the second point, starting with a Deadeye from Rexford Kaase. Mankato claimed its second point of the set, 2-1, before taking the final objective and getting the win.

Loyola (4-0) won Thursday's Smash Bros. match against the University of Houston-Downtown. The Wolf Pack has won four matches to start the season, heading into week five of NACE competition. UHD's Lucario got a close 3-2 victory over Anthony Nodolski's Olimar. Samuel Spiegel played Roy for the first time this season, beating Lucario (1-1) and Joker (3-1) to put the Pack in front.

After Spiegel fell to Sephiroth, 1-2, Lucian Payne entered the match as Wolf to get the win. Then, Payne closed out the set by getting a solid win over UHD's Ness to give the Maroon and Gold its first set of the night. Payne opened the second crew battle, this time defeating Joker, 3-2. UHD's Link traded stocks with Payne to get the win, 1-1. Malachi Lee replaced Payne to defeat Link, 2-1. From there, Lee's Terry defeated both King K. Rool (3-0) and Lucario (3-1) to capture the win.

NACE Results

First Crew Battle:

Lucario (UHD) def. Olimar (Anthony Nodolski), 3-2
Roy (Samuel Spiegel) def. Lucario (UHD), 1-1
Roy (Samuel Spiegel) def. Joker (UHD), 3-1
Sephiroth (UHD) def. Roy (Samuel Spiegel), 1-2
Wolf (Lucian Payne) def. Sephiroth (UHD), 1-1
Wolf (Lucian Payne) def. Ness (UHD), 3-1
Loyola leads match, 1-0

Second Crew Battle:

Wolf (Lucian Payne) def. Joker (UHD), 3-2
Link (UHD) def. Wolf (Lucian Payne), 1-1
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. Link (UHD), 2-1
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. King K. Rool (UHD), 3-0
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. Lucario (UHD), 3-1
Loyola wins match, 2-0