Esports closes out Fall 2023 season with various championship appearances
DUBUQUE, Iowa - In the third full season of the Clarke University Esports teams competing at some of the highest levels of collegiate Esports, the Pride finished off the fall 2023 semester competing in five titles including Call of Duty, FIFA, Fortnite, Madden, and Valorant, with teams making championship events.
Call of Duty
The Pride Call of Duty roster picked up where they left off last year, continuing their successful streak and steadily improving over time. This semester, both Call of Duty rosters had an opportunity to travel and compete in-person at a LAN event in Highland, Kansas, while the varsity team once again traveled to Mankato, Minnesota.
The Pride were able to field two rosters again, with the Call of Duty Navy team comprising of Michael Feliz, Alec dos Santos, Samuel Swenor, and Ben Blackburn, and the Call of Duty Gold team comprising of Ethan Kleckler, Gavin Breed, Joey Fragoso, Devon Wall, Dominick Gaspie, and Maleea Engledow. The Pride's first big competition was the LAN Invitational hosted by Highland Community College, where the Navy team was able to finish in 3rd place overall, while the Gold team finished in 6th place. Afterwards, the Navy team with the substitution of Breed filling in for dos Santos competed in the Rockstar Invitational hosted by Minnesota State Mankato, where the team received a repeat placing of 4th.
Both rosters would also compete once again in the NACE Starleague Varsity Plus Division, where the Navy team was able to finish as the 1st seed in the West-Central Conference, while the Gold team finished as the 2nd seed in the East 6 Conference. Both teams would sweep their semifinal matchup and move onto the conference finals. The Navy team would make quick work of their opponent in Neumont College, claiming a 3-0 sweep as well as the Pride's first Call of Duty conference championship. The Navy team also ended their season with an undefeated record, not dropping a single map all season. The Gold team would face off against their only regular season loss in Franklin College, where the team was able to start off up 1-0 in the series, but would fall short in the next three maps, finishing once again as the conference Runner-Ups.
FIFA
The Pride had a tall task ahead of them this season after being crowned three-time consecutive Eastern College Athletic Conference champions last Spring. Looking to defend our ECAC championship title, Tommy Rea would once again compete for the Pride alongside a newcomer in Jakob Schoon.
Rea and Schoon both started the ECAC season out slow, dropping their first few matches of the season, but would instantly get right back on track. Rea would end his regular season with a 5-2 record after holding a 5-game win streak, while Schoon would also end his season with a 5-2 record. Rea would enter the post-season as the 9th seed while Schoon would enter as the 18th seed.
Schoon played a competitive series against Lindenwood University, whom he would unfortunately lose against, but Rea would go on to win the first two rounds of the playoff bracket. His next match was against the #1 seed in the University at Albany in the quarterfinals. Rea dropped the first game of the series but picked up the next two games to continue onto the semifinals, where he would sweep his opponent to return once again to the conference championship. Up against the #2 seed in Cumberland University, Rea kept it close in every game, but wasn't able to close out the series in the end. While Rea may not have been able to defend our championship title, he fortunately will be walking away with the Runner-Up trophy.
Fortnite
This semester the Pride had the opportunity to compete in a variety of Fortnite competitions, ranging from Duos to Trios and Build to Zero Build. The returning duo of Jacob Schemmel and Derryl Meeks saw the addition of Jeffrey Dema, who's impact was immediately felt.
The Pride would first compete in the newly formed competition of the College Carball Association's Creative Series. Schemmel, Meeks, and Dema qualified through the West region, where they would finish the Swiss stage as the 6th place team. The team was then placed into Group 6, where after three weeks of competition the Pride received a berth into the Last Chance Qualifier after finishing in 3rd place with a 5-2 record. In the LCQ, the Pride took on a strong opponent in McMaster University, eventually losing their playoff qualification game after a close best-of-5, just falling short of the post-season.
The Pride also competed in the NACE Starleague Collegiate Series, where the duo of Schemmel and Dema would qualify for the Split 1 Championships after their performance throughout the first three Opens, then finishing as the 20th place team overall in Build Duos. Afterwards, Schemmel and Dema would qualify for the Split 2 Championships after winning the third Open outright. In Zero Builds, Schemmel and Dema would have much more success, this time finishing in 7th place overall.
Due to Dema's performance throughout the six Collegiate Series Opens, he was invited to compete in the NACE Starleague Campus Corner Invitational alongside 7 other of the top performers. Through six rounds of Gun Game, Dema was able to come out on top, taking home the $500 first place prize.
Finally, the Pride once again compete in the ECAC, this season adding Zero Build Trios to the mix. Throughout the 8-week Build Duos regular season, Schemmel and Dema would end as the 2nd place squad, also finishing several weeks in 1st place. In the Trios regular season, Schemmel, Meeks, and Dema ended as the 3rd place team, also finishing several weeks in 1st place. In the first round of the post-season, the Pride would finish the Duos semifinals in 4th place, while finishing the Trios semifinals in 5th place. In the Duos and Trios championships, the Pride came away as the 1st place team in both formats, bringing home two conference championships.
Madden
The Pride saw the return of James Vandun to the Madden roster, with the new addition of Alex Manuel Jr. after his Clarke Football career. Both athletes competed in the ECAC season, with Manuel finishing as the 19th seed with a 5-3 record, while Vandun finished as the 41st place team with a 4-4 record. Vandun unfortunately fell just short of playoff qualification, while Manuel would enter his first esports post-season.
Manuel was able to take down his first-round opponent in Saint Francis University, but would then take on the 3rd seed and eventual ECAC Runner-Up in Brewton-Parker College, who would end his playoff run.
Daniel Mycroft meanwhile has been competing in the Madden Championship Series, looking to once again qualify for the Madden Bowl early next year. Mycroft has kept a consistent performance throughout the first stage of each MCS tournament and looks to finish strong in the final tournament of the year to accumulate enough points to receive a direct invite to the Madden Bowl.
Valorant
The Pride Valorant team had a packed Fall schedule, joining the Midwest Esports Conference and getting the opportunity to travel to Des Moines, Iowa and Westville, Indiana for the MEC Fall Clash and MEC Fall Championship, on top of their regular National Esports Collegiate Conference, NACE Starleague, and College Valorant competition.
The Valorant team saw many new faces this semester, with the addition of Kevin Nguyen, Kyle Caruso, and Phat Nguyen to the Varsity team, with Spencer Cavaco, Tawan Khwanthongyim, and Matt Archer returning, while the Pride added a Junior Varsity squad, comprising of Michael Pettke, Alec dos Santos, James Vandun, Emily Nelson, Ben Blackburn, and Fabian Dominguez.
Beginning their Fall season, the Pride travelled to Des Moines, Iowa to kick off the MEC regular season with an opening tournament. The Varsity team with the addition of Pettke had a strong start to the Fall Clash round-robin, ending in 1st place with a 6-1 record. In the upper bracket of the playoffs, the Pride would fall to Ohio Northern University, but would make their way through the Loser's Bracket to reach the Grand Finals, facing Ohio Northern once again. The Pride unfortunately fell short, finishing the Fall Clash in 2nd place overall.
The MEC regular season began the following week, with the Pride finishing in 2nd place overall with a 5-2 record after four weeks of competition. Heading into the post-season, the Pride swiftly took down Cornell College in the first round, but lost a close series against Briar Cliff University, sending them to the Loser's Bracket. The Pride were able to take down their next opponent in Cleveland State University, qualifying them for the Fall Championship LAN in Westville, Indiana.
In the MEC Fall Championship, the Pride faced off against Miami University in the Loser's Semifinals, in which the team was able to fight themselves to the Loser's Finals, up against Briar Cliff once again. This time around, the Pride were able to extract their revenge, taking the victory to send themselves to the Grand Finals against the undefeated Ohio Northern. The Pride started slow, dropping the first two maps of the series, but were able to claw their way back to reverse sweep Ohio Northern to claim the MEC Fall Championship.
In the NECC, the Varsity team was placed in the Champions Division, while the Junior Varsity team was placed in the Navigators Division. After the conclusion of the regular season, the Varsity team finished as the 2nd place team with a 5-1 record, while the Junior Varsity team finished in 6th place with a 1-5 record. Qualifying for the post-season, the 4th seeded Varsity team won their first-round matchup against the University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign, then taking on the 1st seeded team in the University of Michigan. The Pride put up a strong fight, but eventually dropped the series, taking on Purdue University in the 3rd place decider. The Pride gave it their best, but unfortunately lost the series, finishing in 4th place.
Meanwhile, the Pride also competed in the NACE Starleague Varsity Plus Division. Throughout the regular season, the Pride were able to stay undefeated, finishing in 1st place with a 7-0 record in the East 2 Conference. The Pride would take on DePaul University in the semifinals, playing close games but closing out the series in the end. In the conference finals, the Pride faced off against North Dakota State University, where the team was able to come out swinging and carry their momentum through the series to claim victory and take home the conference championship.
Finally, the Pride competed in the College Valorant North Tournament. The Varsity team was given the 14th seed overall in the North region and was placed in Group 14. The Pride were able to win all of their regular season matches, qualifying them for the CVAL North playoffs, with their first-round matchup against Kansas University. The Pride had a strong performance throughout the series and were able to come away with the victory, sending them to the second playoff round, where they would face off against the 3rd seeded team of St. Clair College. The Pride gave it their best shot, but would eventually drop the series to the North region's playoff victors, ending their CVAL post-season with their highest placement yet.
Overall, the Pride were able to add six major trophies to their list of accomplishments after the Fall semester, bringing home their first-ever Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Valorant championships. The Pride saw success in every esports title, and look to capitalize on that success as they head into their Spring season, hoping to continue their winning ways and to make a statement on the national level.