Concordia Rocket League qualifies for playoffs
Esports team gets into postseason after tiebreaker series
The Concordia Esports Rocket League team was swept by the York Lions on Feb. 19 in the initial playoff tiebreaker series, before Concordia beat the Conestoga Condors 3-2 to secure the 11th seed and a playoff spot in the Ontario Post-Secondary Esports Rocket League competition.
Concordia got off to a hot start in game one with two quick goals by Victor “Nimbus” Maillé. York answered with a pair of goals of their own, tying the game with only 15 seconds left before taking the win in overtime.
York won the next two games—6-0 and 2-1—to secure the series sweep and force Concordia to face Conestoga for a playoff spot.
“The second game, all I can figure is that they sized us up; they were much faster, hit some very fancy shots, and beat us to almost every challenge,” said James “Littlemac” Kierans. “It was a frustrating loss, because it felt like we should have been able to stick with them, but they just read us too well.”
Concordia squeezed out a victory in a tight series with Conestoga. Maillé led the way once again, assisted by Kierans’ strong defence and persistent offensive pressure.
“We were much better at delivering offensive pressure in the second series,” said Kierans. “We flowed much better as a team.”
With a four-way tie for the 9th seed in the OPSE Rocket League standings, Concordia competed in this tiebreaker to determine the final standings and opening round of playoff matchups.
Concordia will face the University of Ottawa and Queen’s University in group stage matches, where the top two teams will move on.
“There are some really good teams in this league, but we're good enough that anything can happen,” said Kierans.
Concordia will play both its round robin games on Friday, Feb. 26, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
