ETSU Esports Overwatch and Rocket League teams hosted their first tournament of the season on Tuesday, Sept. 7 in the Cave.
For the inaugural game, Rocket League took on the University of Southern Mississippi playing the best of 5 series. ETSU won 3-0.
“We are feeling pretty good. It was our first game and we haven’t been able to have many practices yet, so getting a win like that and not being at our full potential yet; we still have a lot of growth this season. It was really good to see that we can win and still have a lot of potential to grow,” said junior Nick Johnson (Blountville, Tennessee) player name “Prime”.
Game 1 favored ETSU 4-2, game two favored ETSU 2-1, and game 3 favored ETSU 4-2. The team had a lot of momentum during the game to carry with them from a great start to the season.
“Having confidence in your teammates and how you play together means a lot as far as carrying the momentum through the season,” said Johnson ‘Prime’. “As we play more and more with each other and get to know each other’s playstyles we’ll definitely be able to pick up on that and get more confidence in each other and our team as a whole.”
The opening game for Overwatch was played against Virginia Wesleyan University. The Bucs won against the Marlins 3-0. ETSU took a hold of the control for map 1 with a score of 2-0.
“We got the full hold on maps 2 and 3 so we could take full offense to shut the other team out,” said head coach Jeff Shell. “We’re just looking to come in every game, respect our opponents, make sure that we’re not playing sloppy and showing we are a great team.”
Overwatch is a heavily favored team this season with players to match. Freshmen Alex Lockhart (Gray, Tennessee) player name “Clay” and Zachary Strunk (Scott County, Tennessee) player name “Xenon” were strong additions to the team this season.
“Zach is a phenomenal shot caller, with his in-game shot-calling we can easily win fights; Alex is really good at the game as well,” said senior captain Ashe Greenberg (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) player name “Snoozy”.
Esports will be hosting games every Monday in the Cave starting at 7 p.m.
