Esports collects two NACE wins this week

NEW ORLEANS – The Maroon and Gold began its second week of Esports competition by defeating UT Arlington in Overwatch 2, 3-1. The Super Smash Bros. squad closed the week with a sweep of Dallas Baptist University on Thursday, 2-0. 

The Pack will start off week three with an Overwatch matchup with the Academy of Art on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. The Wolf Pack will close the week with a Smash Bros. match against Southern Miss on Thursday, at 6 p.m. Loyola's esports matches will be live-streamed on twitch.tv/loynoesports. 

In the Pack's Overwatch match, the teams began on Lijiang Tower. After a quick lead by UTA, Loyola regained possession of the objective to tie things up. After both teams traded possession, the Mavericks managed to close out the first round. UT Arlington took another lead to start round two, then a team push led by Matthew Marshall put the Pack on the board. With the Wolf Pack closing in on a round-two win, UTA's Tracer stuck a pulse bomb to Marshall, but a clutch Suzu from Maya Hernandez kept him alive to secure the win. The third round of Lijiang Tower was another contested fight. With a close score approaching the round's end, an important ultimate from Marshall's Junker Queen team killed UTA to win set one.

On King's Row, the Pack brought the payload to its destination, helped by two Hanzo kills from Braden Garfield, to end the first round with less than a minute left. The Mavericks put together a strong push in round two, putting over three minutes on the board. In round three, the Wolf Pack got the payload, but got stopped before the first checkpoint. UTA passed the Pack in round four to tie the set score, 1-1.

The third set was on the Flashpoint map, Suravasa. After UTA took a 2-1 lead, a graviton surge from Marshall set up a triple kill by Hernandez, Mason Wheaton, and Perry Penz. After the Pack took the point to overtime, UTA managed to take possession. With both teams at 99%, the Pack came away with the point to tie the flashpoint score at 2-2. Another clutch point by the Wolf Pack brought Loyola its second set win to take a lead, 2-1.

For the final set, the teams faced off on New Queen Street, the push map. Loyola started the set by reaching the first checkpoint. UTA took back the bot to make some progress, but got stopped short quickly by the Wolf Pack. From there, a three-kill nanoblade from Garfield helped Loyola claim victory to win its second match of the season, 3-1. 

On Thursday, the Pack had a strong match against Dallas Baptist University. The first crew battle was back and forth, with teams trading wins the whole way through. Samuel Spiegel started the match by beating King K. Rool, 3-1. Diddy Kong defeated Spiegel just before Lily Neeley avenged him. After Mario took down Neeley's Lucina, Malachi Lee entered the match to beat Mario. Lee fell to DBU's Steve, 3-2, leaving Anthony Nodolski an easy chance to close it out, 1-0.

Nodolski's Olimar defeated Mario to start the second crew battle, then traded stocks with King K. Rool to leave DBU's fighter with one stock. Lee's Terry swept the board from there, defeating K. Rool, Diddy Kong, and Steve en route to an easy two-set win for the Wolf Pack, staying undefeated through two matches.

NACE Results

First Crew Battle:

Steve (Samuel Spiegel) def. King K. Rool (DBU), 3-1
Diddy Kong (DBU) def. Steve (Samuel Spiegel), 2-1
Lucina (Lily Neeley) def. Diddy Kong (DBU), 2-2
Mario (DBU) def. Lily Neeley (Lucina), 1-2
Mii Gunner (Malachi Lee) def. Mario (DBU), 1-0
Steve (DBU) def. Mii Gunner (Malachi Lee), 3-2
Olimar (Anthony Nodolski) def. Steve (DBU), 1-0
Loyola leads match, 1-0

Second Crew Battle:

Olimar (Anthony Nodolski) def. Mario (DBU), 3-1
King K. Rool (DBU) def. Olimar (Anthony Nodolski), 2-2
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. King K. Rool (DBU), 1-0
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. Diddy Kong (DBU), 3-1
Terry (Malachi Lee) def. Steve (DBU), 3-1
Loyola wins match, 2-0