LAST WEEK IN PEACOCK ESPORTS... The Upper Iowa University Esports team competed in five contests in four different games last week from Feb. 8 to 13. The squad started the week off strong with a decisive 3-0 victory in Rocket League against Ithica College and secured another team win over Carroll University in an exciting Overwatch match on Thursday, Feb. 11.
ECAC ROCKET LEAGUE... The Peacocks dominated in a best-of-five ECAC Rocket League matchup against the Bombers of Ithica College, claiming a 3-0 victory. Upper Iowa won the first game by a score of 3-1 before defusing the Bomber offense entirely and winning 2-0 in each of the final two games.
UIU Match Stats:
Goals/Shots: Brady Krupa: 4/7 (57.1%),
Sean Odegard: 3/11 (27.2%),
Trace Woodward: 1/4 (25%)
Assists: Trace Woodward: 1,
Sean Odegard: 1
Saves: Sean Odegard: 5,
Trace Woodward: 3,
Brady Krupa: 2
NACE FORTNITE... UIU could not find their footing in the Duo Battle Royale as the two Peacock competitors finished 39th and 40th without securing any eliminations.
NECC ROCKET LEAGUE... Upper Iowa was unable to secure a victory against the Central Methodist University Eagles in their best-of-five NECC Rocket League contest. Game one was a defensive battle that ended in an 0-1 loss for UIU. The Peacocks managed to turn it around in game two as they won a hard-fought game by a score of 3-2 after having to play 5:05 of extra time to secure the win and tie the contest. After dropping game three by a score of 2-4, Upper Iowa lost a heartbreaker in extra time as the Eagles claimed the game 4-3 after playing 2:16 of extra time, handing UIU the 3-1 defeat for the match.
UIU Match Stats:
Goals/Shots: Sean Odegard: 4/9 (44.4%),
Trace Woodward: 1/4 (25%),
Brady Krupa: 3/13 (23%)
Assists: Trace Woodward: 2,
Sean Odegard: 1,
Brady Krupa: 1
Saves: Sean Odegard: 7,
Trace Woodward: 7,
Brady Krupa: 3
NECC OVERWATCH... The Peacocks won an exciting match against the Carroll University Pios as they claimed a 2-1 victory in their best-of-three NECC Overwatch matchup. Upper Iowa was handed a loss in the first map of the contest and faced an early 0-1 deficit in the match, but impressive victories on maps two and three powered the Peacocks to their 2-1 victory.
Match Highlights:
Map 1 - Busan: UIU had mixed results in their three-round battle against the Pios as they lost the matchup in their first map by a score of 2-1. The Pios barely took the opening round as they snuck past the Peacocks to hand them a 99-100 loss, but Upper Iowa came back strong in the second round en route to a 100-0 shutout. UIU was unable to get the upper hand in the decisive third round, losing to Carroll by a score of 100-82.
Player Stats: Brady Jahr led the team's offensive attack with 33 eliminations.
Trace Woodward defended the Peacocks by blocking 24,000 points of damage.
Cameron Anderson contributed 28 assists to UIU.
Map 2 - Blizzard World: Upper Iowa won the second map of the match to knot the score at 1-1 on the strength of their defense. The Peacocks picked up 2 of the 3 objective points while on offense as they moved the payload 108 meters into opponent territory on their way to the third objective. On defense, UIU locked down the Pios' offense as the kept their entire defending force alive and secured a flawless hold.
Player Stats: Brady Jahr notched 33 eliminations and had a whopping 65% kill participation thanks to his elimination and assist numbers.
Trace Woodward blocked 23,500 points of damage for UIU.
Map 3 - Dorado: The Peacocks played an exciting third map as they took care of business on both offense and defense to win the match-clinching point and give themselves a 2-1 team victory. On offense, UIU secured all three of the objectives and were abe to do so with 1:37 remaining on the clock. The defensive side of the map brought the most excitement as Upper Iowa only allowed the Pios to take 1 of the 3 objectives. While defending, the Peacocks saw Carroll get within just one meter of taking the second objective and securing a boost in time as a result. However, things fell into place perfectly for the Peacocks after a well-timed ultimate ability gave UIU a team wipe as they eliminated every Pio player. Upper Iowa held on for the remaining two minutes without allowing Carroll to advance, securing the decisive victory for UIU.
Player Stats: Nick Finder kept his team alive by providing 14,000 points of healing.
CLoL LEAGUE OF LEGENDS... Upper Iowa was unable to get into a rhythm as the fell by a score of 2-0 against Bismarck State College.
UP NEXT... The Peacocks have another full week of contests as they kick off their NECC Valorant schedule while still competing in both ECAC and NECC Rocket League, NECC Overwatch, and CLoL League of Legends.
