Loyola Smash Bros. season ends in playoffs Saturday

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans Esports program competed in the NACE playoffs in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this week. The Wolf Pack faced off against the University of Missouri on Thursday and Oakland University on Saturday. The No. 14 Maroon and Gold defeated No. 19 Missouri on Thursday, 2-0, taking its eighth straight sweep of the season. The Wolf Pack fell to the No. 3 Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Saturday in a two-set match, finishing the season with an 8-1 overall record.

Anthony Nodolski took Wii Fit Trainer to its final stock for the first fight of Thursday's matchup against Missouri. Malachi Lee took over after that, taking down Wii Fit Trainer (1-0), R.O.B. (3-1), and King Dedede (3-1). Missouri's Corrin defeated Lee, 2-1, before Lily Neeley entered the match to take down Corrin, 1-0, securing set one.

R.O.B. took down Nodolski's Olimar to start the second set, 3-2. Loyola's Lee eliminated both R.O.B. (1-1) and Wii Fit Trainer (3-1) with Terry, forcing Missouri's third fighter. Corrin traded stocks with Lee to get the win, 1-1, then Neeley's Lucina did the same to bring out Missouri's final fighter, 2-2. UM's Wolf brought down Neeley, then Samuel Spiegel entered the matchup for the first time in Thursday's matchup. Spiegel's Roy cleaned things up by eliminating Wolf and advancing the Wolf Pack to round two of the playoffs.

Saturday's matchup began with a win by Oakland, beating Nodolski by just one stock. Lee defeated Oakland's Mario, 1-0, then took OU's Min Min to her final stock, 3-2. Min Min went on a run by defeating Lucian Payne's Wolf. Spiegel's Roy traded stocks with Min Min to bring out OU's Pac-Man, but the Golden Grizzlies got the win to hand Loyola its first set loss of the season. In the second crew battle, the momentum remained in favor of the Golden Grizzlies en route to Loyola's first and only loss of the season.

NACE Results (Missouri)

First Crew Battle:

Wii Fit Trainer (UM) def. Olimar (Anthony Nodolski), 3-2
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. Wii Fit Trainer (UM), 1-0
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. R.O.B. (UM), 3-1
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. King Dedede (UM), 3-1
Corrin (UM) def. Terry (Malachi Lee), 2-1
Lucina (Lily Neeley) def. Corrin (UM), 1-0
Loyola leads match, 1-0

Second Crew Battle:

R.O.B. (UM) def. Olimar (Anthony Nodolski), 3-2
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. R.O.B. (UM), 1-1
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. Wii Fit Trainer (UM), 3-1
Corrin (UM) def. Terry (Malachi Lee), 1-1
Lucina (Lily Neeley) def. Corrin (UM), 2-2
Wolf (UM) def. Lucina (Lily Neeley), 1-1
Roy (Samuel Spiegel) def. Wolf (UM), 2-1
Loyola wins match, 2-0

NACE Results (Oakland)

First Crew Battle:

Mario (OU) def. Olimar (Anthony Nodolski), 3-2
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. Mario (OU), 1-0
Min Min (OU) def. Terry (Malachi Lee), 3-2
Min Min (OU) def. Wolf (Lucian Payne), 3-0
Roy (Samuel Spiegel) def. Min Min (OU), 1-1
Pac-Man (OU) def. Roy (Samuel Spiegel), 2-1
Oakland leads match, 1-0

Second Crew Battle:

Steve (OU) def. Roy (Samuel Spiegel), 3-0
Steve (OU) def. Wolf (Lucian Payne), 3-1
Olimar (Anthony Nodolski) def. Steve (OU), 2-1
Snake (OU) def. Olimar (Anthony Nodolski), 2-1
Snake (OU) def. Terry (Malachi Lee), 3-1
Oakland wins match, 2-0