The Keyano Huskies Esports Rocket League team has secured their spot in the NACE Grand Finals. The team dominated the playoff bracket, finishing with a near-flawless 4-1 victory over the University of Missouri last Wednesday. The team will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania early next month to face off against Northwood University, the defending champions of the Collegiate Rocket League title.
The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) is one of the largest collegiate esports networks in the continent. It is home to over 170 member schools across Canada and the United States. NACE members field their best esports rosters to compete throughout the academic year across multiple esports titles in the all-encompassing NACE Starleague.
Teams compete in regional conferences throughout the term for a chance at a Conference Championship, the winners of which automatically progress to the NACE playoffs. After the eleven regional conferences are complete, a secondary Last Chance tournament is held to welcome five additional teams to the tournament.
Throughout the regular season, the Keyano Huskies Esports Rocket League team decimated the competition, ending the conference with a 6-1 record. After narrowly losing the West Conference Championship to Boise State University, the Huskies climbed their way out of the Last Chance bracket to qualify for NACE season playoffs.
“It feels really good to make it,” says Jared Greenwood, starting player for the Rocket League team. “We beat quality teams to get here. West Virginia is a good team and Missouri swept us in the last series of the CRL season.”
Greenwood returned to the Huskies Esports program this year after playing during the inaugural Fall 2021 season. He brings years of professional and collegiate esports experience to the team, having previously played in CRL and coached RLCS rosters.
This year, Greenwood is applying his experience in a different way, taking a step back from the limelight and giving his teammates more opportunities to score. “I’m just doing my best to open up the field for them. There aren’t really set positions in Rocket League. It’s all really fluid.”
When asked about his goals for the team, Greenwood remarked that he was disappointed in how the Fall CRL season went, and has greater aspirations for the Winter. “Our goal is to qualify for CRL again and make playoffs, and anything beyond that. We’re going to take things one series at a time and see where it goes.”
For the next two weeks however, the team only has one goal: to take down Northwood University and become NACE Champions.
You can watch all of the Huskies Esports teams’ games live on Twitch:
https://twitch.tv/keyanoesports
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