Rocket League Esports Team wins Regional Championship
On Saturday, November 16, and Sunday, November 17, UW-Green Bay’s Rocket League and VALORANT Esports teams traveled to Lakeland University for the Wisconsin Esports Conference’s Northeast Regional Championship. The WEC brought together 19 universities across the state in its inaugural season, providing a unique opportunity for regional play not seen in many other spaces in collegiate esports.
UWGB’s Rocket League Varsity team beat Northcentral Technical College twice to claim the Regional Championship and a spot at the State Finals. Those finals took place this past weekend, December 7 and 8, where UW-Green Bay’s first-round opponent was Waukesha County Technical College. The squad fell to the event’s home team, and WCTC would go on to win the State Championship.
The squad was led captain Adam “atmint” Matuszak, who was named 1st Team All-Conference in Rocket League. Rounding out the roster was Caleb “cj_25” Mangin and Demetrius “MeechOG” Milety.
The VALORANT team fell to the Lakeland University home team at the Regional event in 2 close maps, eliminated at fourth place.
This semester, the Esports program housed eight unique teams across five game titles. 48 students competed on behalf of the university in a variety of different leagues. Other highlights include the League of Legends Junior Varsity roster, which started the season 0-3 but made adjustments to go 3-1 in the back half of the season with close matches, qualifying for playoffs in their division of the Playfly College Esports league. The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate team also competed with Playfly College Esports, ending the season 5-3 with a loss in the first round of playoffs. Standout performers on the team include first-year students Michael “Skooks” Fontaine and Alex “Poke” Ford.
This semester, each team was asked to create 3 values specific to their roster. These values included Communication, Respect, and Integrity.
All of the esports teams will continue building off of the fall semester’s play as they look ahead towards the Spring semester, where Overwatch 2 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be in-season for the Wisconsin Esports Conference.
Teams compete in regular season matches online from the recently-expanded Esports Lounge located in the University Union adjacent to the Phoenix Club. The facility now has 30 PCs and four Nintendo Switch consoles available for students to play on for free.
Are you a student interested in competing? Tryouts for Overwatch 2 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will take place in the first week of the spring semester. Send an email to esports@uwgb.edu for more information.
