THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK ESPORTS... The Upper Iowa University Esports team showed improvement in Valorant and played well in Rocket League, but UIU was unable to secure a victory in either game. The Peacocks fell by a score of 2-0 against the Midland University in Valorant on Monday before dropping their Rocket League match against the University of British Columbia's Team White by a score of 3-1 on Tuesday.
NECC VALORANT - 9/27... Upper Iowa fell by a score of 2-0 in their best-of-three NECC Valorant match against the division's top team, Midland University. The Peacocks fell in the first game by a score of 13-7 on the map "Bind" before falling 13-3 in game two on the map "Split."
Map 1 (Bind): On map one, the Peacocks started strong as they won the first two rounds in the best-of-25 competition. Upper Iowa had a 5-3 player advantage after two eliminations in the first round, but Midland turned the tide and wiped out four Peacocks while losing just one player to make it two on one in an attempt to defuse the spike bomb. Team captain Caleb Glube made a clutch play to eliminate the final two Warrior players and secure the first round for UIU. The second round came down to a one-on-one matchup in the final seconds, and UIU's
Robert Ngo had the better aim in a gunfight to secure the elimination and put UIU up 2-0. The Warriors answered by winning two rounds of their own to tie the score at 2-2, but Upper Iowa grabbed the lead again by winning the fifth round to go up 3-2.
With Midland up 4-3 in the sixth round,
Cody Lawrence eliminated the last Warrior player with time on the clock, but not before Midland managed to defuse the bomb to win the round. UIU won the next round to cut the deficit to 5-4 before Midland rattled off three wins to go up 8-4. The Peacocks answered by taking the next two rounds to bring the score to 8-6, but Midland took the momentum back with four straight wins to bring the map to a match point at 12-6. Upper Iowa won a must-win round to stay alive and bring the score to 12-7, but the Warriors won their map-clinching 13th round to go up 1-0 in the match.
The seven rounds won by the Peacocks are a program-best as Valorant is in its second year of competition as a new game.
UIU Stats
Map 2 (Split): Map two had an identical start to the first as UIU was able to win the first two rounds to go up 2-0 in the best-of-25 contest. The Peacocks dominated the second round as Glube and Ngo each notched two kills while
Sean Odegard also picked up an elimination. Midland University turned the tide as they won the next nine rounds to go up 9-2. Ngo recorded three of the five kills in the 12th round to give UIU a win and cut their deficit to 9-3, but the Warriors got back to their winning ways and went on to win the map 13-3 to clinch the 2-0 win in the best-of-three match.
UIU Stats
COACH'S QUOTES... "The Peacocks showed promise on map one, taking more rounds than they had in any map previous. Under the leadership of team captain Caleb Glube the Peacocks are gaining momentum and feel good about their upcoming match against Central Methodist University next week." - Head Coach,
Jim Lowery
NECC ROCKET LEAGUE - 9/28... Following their thrilling victory in week one, Upper Iowa matched up against the University of British Columbia's Team White in a matchup of 1-0 teams. UBC was able to win the first game of the best-of-five match in the last seconds to go up 1-0. UIU answered in game two to tie things at 1-1, but the Thunderbirds went on to win the next two games to claim the 3-1 win in the match.
In game one, British Columbia was aggressive early as they took several dangerous shots before and after scoring the first goal of the match at the 4:17 mark. The Peacocks knotted the score with2:29 left after
Sean Odegard scored a long goal off an assist from
Cody Lawrence, but UBC scored the game-winning goal with just nine seconds left to secure the 2-1 win and go up 1-0 in the match.
In game two, the Peacocks looked to turn things around early as
Brady Krupa scored just 11 seconds into the game. Krupa had a chance to double the lead at the 3:13 mark that bounced off the crossbar, and UBC made a counterattack that saw them tie the score at 1-1 at the 3:07 mark. The Thunderbirds scored again at the 2:30 mark to take the lead, but Odegard ushered in a goal to tie the score at 2-2 with 1:41 left on the clock. Odegard scored a go-ahead goal off an assist from Krupa with just three seconds left in the game that looked as if it would be the game-winner, but UBC put in an aerial shot at the buzzer to send the game to OT. The Peacocks stayed composed as Odegard scored the golden goal just 32 seconds into extra time to secure the 3-2 win and tie the match at 1-1.
Krupa got things going early for Upper Iowa with a score just three seconds into the game despite being demoed, but British Columbia evened the score with an early goal of their own just six seconds later. UBC quickly scored two more unanswered goals in a 40-second span to take a 3-1 lead by the 4:11 mark. With UIU looking to get back into the game, Krupa crossed a perfect ball to Odegard who had his shot bounce off the top of the goal at the 2:57 mark. Krupa scored to bring UIU within one at the 1:35 mark, but UBC scored at the 1:17 mark to push their lead back to two at 4-2. The Thunderbirds extended their lead to three with 34 seconds left to secure the 5-2 lead and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five match.
Things got off to a bad start in the must-win game for the Peacocks as UBC scored on the opening kickoff to take an early 1-0 lead. Upper Iowa battled back to even the score at 1-1 just nine seconds into the game as Odegard scored off an assist from Krupa. British Columbia reclaimed the lead at the 4:25 mark before Odegard scored to tie the game with 3:28 on the clock, but the Thunderbirds quickly regained their lead just eight seconds later with a goal at the 3:20 mark. Krupa saved a dangerous shot from UBC at the 1:30 mark, but UBC cleaned up the rebound at the 1:29 mark to take a 4-2 lead. A quick score at the 1:16 mark pushed the UBC lead to 5-2, and the Peacocks would not be able to overcome the three-goal deficit as they fell by a score of 3-1 in the best-of-five match.
UIU Match Stats:
COACH'S QUOTES... "I think we played an organized match and played better as a team tonight than our opponents. UBC played a chaotic, disorganized game, but we could not quite get the touches we were looking for, and the chaos played in UBC's favor. The ball didn't bounce our way tonight, but we're looking forward to playing George Fox University's Team Gold next week." - Head Coach,
Jim Lowery
UP NEXT... The Peacocks will play Central Methodist University on Monday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Valorant before facing the University of George Fox University's Team Gold in Rocket League on Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 9 p.m. Head to Twitch.tv/Peacock_Esports to cheer on the Peacocks and catch all the UIU action live or as recorded broadcasts after the completion of the contests.
