Hastings Esports Makes History In Week 5
Hastings Esports had a plethora of firsts in Week 5 (Week 2/3 of Overwatch) this past week, including playoff berths, winning streaks, and much more.
VALORANT - First Playoff Berth Clinched In Team History
After being the only team in the Spring semester to not make it to the conference playoffs, Valorant has turned the tide this Fall with their fifth straight win against a stout University of British Columbia (UBC) Scarlet squad, 2-0 (13-7, 13-4). The clinch is not only the first Valorant playoff berth in program history, but also historic as it is the quickest a Hastings team has ever clinched a playoff berth. Hastings went toe-to-toe with UBC Scarlet in Game 1 of the series, which was on Icebox, before breezing through Ascent.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege - First (Legitimate) Winning Streak
Rainbow Six Siege has done something they've earned for the first time in team history, and that is win back-to-back games. In Week 7 and 8 of Spring 2022, Siege got wins over Carroll and Grays Harbor. The caveat to that winning streak was that the win over Grays Harbor was a forfeit win. Last week's 2-1 win over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Black, in addition to this past Tuesday's 2-0 win over Coe Club, a team that beat Hastings in Week 1, marked the first time that Hastings has earned a winning streak that did not include a forfeit.
Siege will be back in action to try and make it a three-game winning streak on Tuesday when they play host to the Buena Vista University (BVU) Beavers at 8 p.m. CST. BVU sits at the 4-seed in the NECC Navigators Division, with Hastings on their heels at the 5-seed, with only two weeks of games left.
Overwatch 2 - Quickest Round Won
Overwatch was able to rebound from a season-opening, 3-1 loss to Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) Black with a great showing against Arkansas (UArk) Black. In their 3-0 sweep of the Razorbacks, Hastings was able to really show dominance on Paraíso. After UArk Black failed to even cap the point on attacking, Hastings was able to capitalize with a slew of speedy characters to cap the point in the first 39 seconds of the round to win the Map and take a commanding 2-0 lead en route to a sweep. This is the quickest Hastings had ever won a map in team history.
Rocket League - Hastings White Ties Team Record of Most Goals Score
After dropping a heartbreaking Game 5 loss to GPAC foe Northwestern JV, Hastings White came out with a bit of a chip on their shoulders. Wartburg Black was on the receiving end of this chip, as Hastings White pulled off the sweep of the Knights. In a series that included five different hat tricks, Hastings White would leave victorious with the game scores being 7-0, 8-1, and 5-0. The 20 goals scored tied the Spring 2022 Week 5 record set by what would now be the HC Broncos team. White fell just one goal shy of tying the most lopsided score in a series, which came in that same Broncos game against Bethel of Tennessee in which the Broncos outscored the Wildcats, 20-0.
Hastings Crimson also competed on Friday, beating Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) Blue, 3-1. Hastings Broncos competes on Tuesday against GPAC foe, Morningside Black, at 7p.m. CST.
Program-Wide - First (Legitimate) Undefeated Week Throughout All Titles
Hastings did something this week, despite two games being postponed to a later date, that had never been done without the assistance of forfeitures in Hastings program history; win each game of the week. The only time this has happened was in Week 8 of the 2022 Spring Split. Rocket League had an off week, and astoundingly, all three other teams all won ther games off forfeits that week, with Valorant winning over Emporia State, Siege over the Grays Harbor Chokers, and Overwatch over Murray State Blue.
Fast forward to this week, and Hastings had to fight tooth-and-nail in all titles in order to earn this historical moment.
Week 6 Schedule:
Hastings will have a unique week this week, with multiple reschedules. This is how the schedule looks currently (all times CST);
- Tuesday
Rocket League Broncos vs Morningside Black, 7 p.m.
Rainbow Six Siege vs Buena Vista Beavers, 8 p.m.
- Wednesday
Overwatch 2 vs UHSP Eutectics / Marian Sabres, TBD
- Thursday
Overwatch 2 vs Marian Sabres / UHSP Eutectics, TBD
-Friday
Valorant vs Milwaukee School of Engineering JV B, 6 p.m.
Rocket League Crimson vs New Mexico State White, 6 p.m.
Rocket League Broncos vs Northcentral Technical White, 7 p.m
Rocket League White vs Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs, 8 p.m.
Overwatch 2 vs Wayne State (NE) Gold, 9 p.m.
