LAST WEEK IN PEACOCK ESPORTS... The Upper Iowa University Esports team competed in four contests in four separate games over the past week from Feb. 22 to 27. The team had mixed results to start the week as they dropped their ECAC Rocket League match against Anderson University (IN), but had their best Fortnite outing of 2021 on the same night. The Peacocks were forced to forfeit their NECC Valorant match on Wednesday as they team captain had other UIU athletics obligations. UIU responded with a highly competitive 2-1 comeback victory in Thursday's NECC Overwatch match against Concordia University (Wis.) to remain undefeated in three NECC Overwatch matchups. The team fell in their CLoL League of Legends contest to wrap up the week.
ECAC ROCKET LEAGUE... Upper Iowa was could not get anything going against the Ravens of Anderson University (IN) as their opponent rolled to a 3-0 victory in the best-of-five contest. The Peacocks were shutout in the match, falling by scores of 6-0 in game one and game two before dropping the match-clinching game 5-0.
UIU Match Stats:
Goals/Shots: Sean Odegard: 0/4,
Brady Krupa: 0/6,
Trace Woodward: 0/0
Saves: Sean Odegard: 9,
Brady Krupa: 2,
Trace Woodward: 1
NACE FORTNITE... The Peacocks put up their best Fortnite performance in 2021 as they finished within the top 30 and secured an elimination in each round. The UIU duo finished 28th in round one with one elimination before finishing 27th in round two with one elimination.
NECC VALORANT... Upper Iowa was forced to forfeit their NECC Valorant match against New England College on Wednesday as they were without their team captain due to responsibilities as a member of other UIU athletics programs.
NECC OVERWATCH... The Peacocks won a highly competitive and exciting match in their NECC Overwatch matchup against Concordia University (Wis.) as the team had to mount a comeback and win the deciding round in overtime. The Peacocks lost in the first map of three in their best-of-three matchup against the Falcons, but the squad was able to tie thing up after securing a victory in map two. In map three, Upper Iowa had to make an epic comeback as they tied their opponents in overtime in round two to force two tiebreaker rounds. The Peacocks managed to soar to a victory over the Falcons and win the match by a score of 2-1.
Match Highlights:
Map 1 - Lijiang Tower (Control Point): The Falcons swooped in to take an early 1-0 lead in the match by winning rounds one and two in the opening map. Concordia won the first round 100%-47% before narrowly edging out the Peacocks in round two with a 100%-99% victory to clinch the first map and first point of the match.
Player Stats: A pentakill from
Sean Odegard won the 'play of the game' as he took down five of the six CU heroes in one fell swoop.
Cameron Anderson worked to keep the Peacocks alive by providing 10,900 points worth of healing.
Trace Woodward blocked 14,400 points of damage while taking the brunt of the enemy attack.
Map 2 - Hollywood (Hybrid): Upper Iowa staved off elimination as they won the second map of the match to knot the best-of-three contest at 1-1. The Peacock defense allowed the Falcons to unlock the payload and secure the assault point, and Concordia made it to 34.37 meters on their offensive push in the opening round. On offense in round two, Upper Iowa also unlocked the payload and secured the assault point before advancing 35 meters to win the round after making it further than their opponents. The round-two win secured a point for the Peacocks and set up a winner-take-all scenario in the upcoming third map.
Player Stats: Brady Jahr recorded 31 eliminations as he worked to take out the enemy team.
Cameron Anderson contributed 24 defensive assists to help the squad.
Map 3 - Rialto (Escort): The contest came down to the third and final map after the Peacocks came back to tie it up against the Falcons. UIU was on defense in the opening round, and things were dire after they failed to stop Concordia from escorting the payload to all three points with 1:58 left on the clock. Needing to match their opponents to force overtime, Upper Iowa started slow as they were unable to secure any of the points before their time ran out. The Peacocks still had some life as they were touching the payload as time expired, giving them extra time for as long as they could hold on. In overtime, UIU was able to stay with the payload and advance it to all three points to force an overtime period. Upper Iowa was back on offense in the first overtime round, and they set the bar by guiding the payload to all three points. Needing an impressive hold to win the map and secure the match-winning point, the Peacock defense grounded the Falcons and only allowed CU to advance to two of the three points even though their opponents had an extra minute to do so after UIU's earlier overtime push. The defensive effort clinched the match for Upper Iowa as they beat Concordia University (Wis.) by a score of 2-1.
Player Stats: Brady Jahr notched a whopping 51 eliminations in the extended game to provide a major boost for UIU.
Xander Cortimilia secured 31 objective eliminations to help dispatch the opponents in crucial situations.
CLoL LEAGUE OF LEGENDS... UIU fell by a score of 2-0 against the Warriors of Waldorf University as the team continues to compete for its first CLoL victory in 2021.
UP NEXT... The Peacocks are scheduled to play a full slate of games this week, starting with ECAC Rocket League NACE Fortnite on Mar. 1. The team returns to NECC Rocket League action on Mar. 2 following a bye in the week prior before looking to compete in NECC Valorant on Mar. 3, NECC Overwatch on Mar. 4, and CLoL League of Legends on Mar. 7. Live streams of the Peacock action can be found on
Twitch.tv/Peacock_Esports.
The Peacock matchup against Randolph-Macon College is currently scheduled for 5:30 p.m., but it is possible that the contest gets pushed back to 8 p.m. If the matchup is moved back, Upper Iowa will be featured on the conference's Twitch stream that can be found at
Twitch.tv/NECC_ESPORTS.
