Minneapolis, MN -- North Central University (NCU) esports headed into playoff competition last week! Thursday night, NCU Super Smash faced off with Truman State University in the NACE Round of 6. After defeating the Bulldogs 2-1 earlier in the season, Truman State got revenge as they defeated the Rams by the same score to end their season. On Saturday, NCU Fortnite had three duos compete in the Playfly Split 2 Championship. Freshman duo Micah Eckhart and Josh Brown led the Rams, finishing the day 13^th overall with half of their game having a top 10 finish including a 3^rd place finish in game 5.   

Super Smash vs Truman State University (2-1 Defeat)

Game 1: NCU - 11   TSU - 12   |   Game 2: NCU - 12   TSU - 8   |   Game 3: NCU - 11   TSU - 12
 

• Truman began the opening game by surprising North Central by playing K. Rool aggresively, causing NCU to go down 3 stocks early. Through the efforts of team captain Phillip "wtrPHILter" Graham and Benjamin "BTGing" Piasecki the Rams were able to claw their way back into the competition. Asher "bluewaras" Winter would tie up the game and bring Truman to their final stock before NCU ultimately lost in a nail-biter.
• NCU opted to have Piasecki act as their opener for game 2, a decision that earned them 2 stocks to Truman's 3. Graham would then go on a seven-stock tear putting NCU ahead 6-2. With a sizable lead, Todd "lucid" Holloway II closed out game 2 with a large lead.
• Truman followed NCU's example and changed their opener for game 3 to their Samus player. Despite this adjustment, Piasecki took 5 stocks as NCU went up 9-7. Winter would return as NCU's second and went go even on stocks as the lead shrunk to 6-4. Holloway II would be the next to come out and after a strong performance against Truman's Incineroar, the Sophomore would be unable to take any stocks off TSU's closer, the K. Rool. With each team down to their final player, Graham would come out strong, but with limited options, a grab and throw would be the final note to NCU's Smash Ultimate season.

Fortnite - Playfly Split 2 Championship

North Central University was represented well this past Saturday by all three duos that competed in the Zero Builds split of the Playfly College Esports Season. The finals proved to be a major switch-up from the qualifiers as the typically sparsely populated lobbies were now nearly full with the top 48 duos from the top 31 Fortnite collegiate programs across the nation. The day was filled with duos struggling to find drops with enough security to stabilize in the early game. One duo, however, would rise above the rest with freshmen Micah Eckhart and Josh Brown finishing the day 13^th overall with half of their game having a top 10 finish including a 3^rd place finish in game 5. 


Upcoming Schedule:

That concludes the Super Smash and Fortnite fall seasons. 

All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) pages for updates on esports and all things NCU Athletics.