More championships, but this time bigger.
After winning the NECC Division 4 Regional Championship back in early April, the Ashland University esports Rocket League team took another step forward: winning a national championship.
On Wednesday (May 6) the Eagles competed against Minnesota State for the NECC Division 4 National Championship, winning 4-3.
"This is the first national title ever for the Ashland Rocket League team," Director of Esports
PJ Fiscus said. "I'm glad to see the results go hand in hand with the team's talent and drive to get better over the last two years. This is just the start of success for Ashland Rocket League."
The championship roster, which sports four competitors, has had such a strong campaign. At one point, they were undefeated and were among some of the highest ranks in the nation. With seniors
Mason "Conspire" Foley and
Daniel "SilentWolf" McIninch anchoring the roster, youngsters
Cooper "Razerz" Goble and
Liam "G7" Goodhart have come in and helped round out the group.
"Obviously, when we look at growth, you would want to look at our star player, Mason, and while he has definitely improved as a player, I think it's more important to look at the surrounding team members," began Fiscus when reflecting. "Liam was a walk-on freshman when I first started in fall 2024. He saved the team by having a solid third player to round out the roster, but if you look at him as a player from then to now, I believe he has multiplied his skill twice or three times over, and I seriously think he has latent talent for the game."
Fiscus went on to praise McIninch as well, who was the team's captain, and Goble, who joined the team, like Goodhart, as a walk-on.
"He (Daniel) was amazing in his role as captain, and towards the start of the regionals, it felt like he had figured something out as he also skyrocketed in skill and has been playing on fire," he said. "Finally, Cooper, he was a walk-on this semester and felt like he was in the same boat as Liam, where I can tell he had talent and just needed to work at it. He didn't disappoint.
"When we needed to sub him in to change up the strategy, he did not lose a single series he was subbed into. He was even subbed into a game where we were down 0-3 and somehow won the series with a reverse sweep."
Fiscus' pride for a group that defied expectations runs deep. Downing a team like Minnesota State, which was highly ranked, by just a game, shows the determination and grit the players had to succeed on the grandest stage.
Fortunately, this may be just the beginning of wins at the national level.
Following last Wednesday's national championship, Fiscus shared exciting news for the Rocket League team.
"Not only will we have this same roster for next fall, but we will also be signing three new players who will be able to compete at the top of Collegiate Rocket League," he said. "It is only up from here on out."
With the year coming to a close, the esports program can now officially say that they were able to find three national championships. Of the bunch, Fiscus is especially impressed by this one.
"Honestly, I really can't believe it," he concluded. "From coming up short in the Division 5 Regionals in the fall to moving up to Division 4 and going a whole 14 series undefeated is just mind-boggling. From my nearly decade of experience in collegiate Rocket League, I haven't experienced something this impressive firsthand."
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