The Ashland University Call of Duty (COD) eSports team is headed to the Divisional Finals after downing the Southeastern Illinois College Falcons, 3-2.

The Eagles, who snuck into the playoffs as the No. 11 seed, downed their first-round opponent and headed into their second-round opponent, not backing down.

In the opening match, the Eagles rallied hard downing their opponent 250-189 with a 61-point victory.

Up until that contest, the Falcons had not lost a single best-of-five match all season. That match gave the Eagles much-needed momentum.

COD team member Phillip Howman dominated in the opening round as he recorded 57 eliminations and 2 minutes and 30 seconds on the objective. His efforts helped propel the team past the Falcons to start the series.

“We were very confident going into this match,” said Howman. “We played them at the beginning of the season and got destroyed, it was time to for us to rebound.”

In the second match, search-and-destroy, the Eagles struggled winning just two rounds while the Falcons won six to win the match.

In the third match, the Eagles geared up to potentially take the series lead with it tied at 1-1.

They went down 2-0 early but rebounded to win the next two rounds to tie up the match at 2-2.

In the final round they played well, but after a late push from the Falcons, they were unable to get the job done falling 3-2.

With the third match being a loss to the Eagles, they fell down 2-1 in the series.

In the fourth match, the team continued their excellence in the hardpoint objective game mode winning, 250-238. The closeness of that match truly showcased that these two teams had a lot to lose with their seasons on the line.

“We had been looking forward to this rematch all season. When we first played then we were still a new team.,” said COD team member Connor Milne. “Tonight we had the chance to show how good we have become.”

The fifth and final match was underway, as the Eagles and Falcons were tied 2-2 in the series, with the match being a first-to-six search-and-destroy. This would be a hard feat for the Eagles to overcome, after losing 6-2 in the earlier search-and-destroy match.

They started off very strong going up 4-1, but a Falcon rally brought the score to 4-3. The Eagles, led by Milne and Howman, clutched the following round to make the score 5-3.

Once again though, the Falcons rallied and tied the game up at 5-5. This means that the following round would be winner takes all.

With the match tied 5-5, and the series tied 2-2, both teams geared up with their seasons on the line for one final round.

Milne and Howman would be eliminated early after taking down one enemy. Now with three enemies left, team member Braden Allen would clutch up and kill the remaining three to win the round for the Eagles.

The win would give the Falcons their first loss of the season, propelling the Eagles to the Divisional Championship.

“I am so proud of how resilient this team is and how we clutched up every time we needed,” said Milne. Super proud of the team, onto the divisional final.”

The Eagles, led by Head Coach Alec Mueller, have persevered this season and as the No. 11 seed in the tournament has an opportunity to make a miracle run.

“It’s so great to see our Call of Duty team persevere and clutch up their win vs SIC in the final round of game 5. Our team is now headed to the division finals with hopes of winning the divisional championship in their first varsity season,” said Mueller. “This means a lot to this team after losing to SIC 3-0 early in the regular season. This win shows just how much this team has improved and grown over the course of the semester and I can’t wait to see how they do in this final and in our spring season!”

They look to return to competition on Wednesday, Nov. 30, with match time set for 7 p.m.