The Ashland University Call of Duty (CoD) eSports team has put in countless hours to start the 2023-24 fall campaign as they look to repeat as NACE Starleague Champions.
Through the team’s opening three contests, the Eagles have dominated, winning six out of 10 maps they’ve competed on, going 2-1 during that span. However, the team went up against one of the hardest opponents in the College CoD scene in the St. Clair College Saints.
“We simply got outplayed. It is as simple as that, they had an answer for everything that we could throw at them,” said eSports COD Team Captain Connor Milne. “Props to those guys for a flawless performance, nothing but respect to St. Clair.”
To open the outing, the Eagles went up against the Saints in the game mode, hardpoint. This game mode saw the winning team sit in an area on the map, known as a “point”, for a designated time, where the team on the point would receive points per second. The winning team would have to reach a scoreline of 250.
The Eagles were dominated in hardpoint as they fell 250-51 to kick off the series in the opening match.
After falling down 1-0 in the game series, the Eagles would look to respond in the second match as they played on a team favorite game mode, search and destroy. This game mode would result in the two teams either protecting or defending a set site on the map in which the other team’s goal is to plant a bomb to destroy the point.
The round-based mode goes until one team wins six rounds, ultimately winning that match.
While the Eagles had been a successful team in the search and destroy game mode up all season, the Saints simply outmatched them once again. The Saints regained the momentum where they left off after the opening match, pulling off an impressive 6-1 win.
With the Eagles trailing 2-0 in the game series, the third game mode, control, would be critical for the Eagles if they had any hope of reversing the outcome of the series.
This game mode, control, aims for the two teams to capture or defend two zones without running out of 30 total respawns.
However, just like the other two matches, the Eagles were unable to garner any momentum as they were wiped, 3-0.
“Despite the loss I was proud of the team because we fought until the game was over, we never just accepted defeat,” said Milne.
The loss moved the team to an overall record of 2-2 on the season, with four games left in the season.
“Our goal for the rest of the season is to win out, nothing less, this is very possible,” he said.
The Eagles will gear up to take on the University of South Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 4, with game time set for 7 p.m.
“That game is behind me, I’m looking to next week where we have another tough challenge in USF,” said Milne. “I think everyone will see a new AU team next week, last night is not a representation of who we are as a team, we are taking this loss personal.”
