St. Edward's Esports beat Cumberland Phoenix twice to go undefeated through the double elimination College Call of Duty CCL Spring 2024 Premier Southeast Regional Playoffs to claim its first Regional Championship.
JOHNNY ALBANO (Vanity), Lucas Muccio (Ballah),
DAVID SAUSEDA (Eons), and
MAURICIO PALLARES (Thresh) remained locked in all weekend, taking down two higher seeds to make program history.
The Hilltoppers earned a first-round bye after sweeping the qualifiers in February, defeating Kennesaw State and Georgia Southern in three rounds each. St. Edward's was gifted another bye in the second round when the University of Texas Longhorn Gaming team forfeited, pitting the third-seeded Hilltoppers against sixth-seeded Lousiana State University on Saturday.
St. Edward's opened the match with a 250-221 Hardpoint Game 1 in the Sub Base map, followed by a 6-5 Search And Destroy win in Karachi. The Hilltoppers closed out the sweep against LSU with a 3-2 Control victory on the Highrise.
The Hilltoppers finally faced a higher seed in the fourth round, facing second-seeded Newberry. St. Edward's breezed to two quick wins in Hardpoint (250-185) and Search and Destroy (6-4), but Newberry stormed back to tie the match with wins in Control (3-2) and the second Search and Destroy (250-165). St. Edward's regained its footing, taking the second Search and Destroy game on the Invasion map with a 6-4 victory to advance to the Winners Finals against top-seeded Cumberland Phoenix.
St. Edward's held a massive advantage in Hardpoint games, opening the match with a 250-149 win in the Sub Base. Cumberland Phoenix bounced back with back-to-back wins in Search and Destroy and Control to take a 2-1 lead. The Hilltoppers bounced back with a 250-163 Hardpoint victory, evening the series, and clinched the match with a 6-4 Search and Destroy victory in Game 5.
Like its namesake, Cumberland Phoenix rose from the ashes of the losers bracket on Sunday, defeating Newberry 3-1 to set up a rematch with St. Edward's in the Grand Finals.
St. Edward's held the high ground from the winners' bracket, where they had two matches to pick up one victory. The Hilltoppers got it done on the first try.
The Hilltoppers opened with a 250-220 Hardpoint victory in Skidrow. Cumberland Phoenix bounced back with a 6-4 Search and Destroy victory in Karachi, but the Hilltoppers eeked out a 3-2 Control victory in the Karachi map and clinched the win with a 250-116 Hardpoint win in Rio.
With the Regional Championship, St. Edward's advances to the Championship Playoffs, which open Tuesday, April 9. St. Edward's begins group play with matches against California State University of Northridge, Texas State, and Mars Hill.
