Ashland, Ohio – After one season of struggling, the Eagles are soaring yet again.

The Ashland University Call of Duty (CoD) eSports team is currently thriving in the College CoD League this spring. The team is currently sitting 10-4 on the season, coming off of a win and loss on Tuesday.

“It means the world [to find success]. Last season was not a good showing for us and we knew the talent that we had on this team,” said CoD team captain Connor Milne. “We’ve been putting in the work and the results are showing it.

“We are honored to be the first team to eclipse the 10-win mark [in team history], it shows that the work we are putting in pays off.”

The Eagles capped off the 2023 fall season with tough losses, as the team struggled to find its footing with a new starting lineup. That brand-new varsity lineup consists of sophomore Jake “Surge” Bucher, junior Connor “Prometheus” Milne, senior Tyler “Tide” Donley and senior Philip “Pork” Howman.

When deep in their struggles, the Eagles put together a measly 4-14 overall record in the fall through two different leagues.

However, it took just one season of those struggles in the fall to turn the wheels in the right direction.

“Team chemistry has helped us thrive the most,” said Donley. “We are all friends, and everybody has grown since last year. We listen to what we all say, the good and the bad.

“Everybody trusts everyone. I can trust these guys to do their job, and in turn, they trust me to do mine.”

Now, as their spring season approaches its tail end, the wins just keep flowing in for the Eagles.

Heading into Tuesday, March 19, the Eagles were poised to find an upset against the No. 2 ranked Cleary University Cougars.

Prior to the outing, the team had focused highly on a more systematic approach. They prepared to take on the Cougars with a mindset focused on adapting to what the Cougars threw at them.

“Our first match vs Cleary was a tough loss. We are very evenly matched and we believe that we can beat that team,” Milne said.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Cougars pulled off a 3-1 win.

The Cougars won both hardpoint game modes and the control game mode, while the Eagles were able to squeak away with a 6-4 win in search-and-destroy. Although the Eagles won one game mode, the other three dominating performances for the Cougars were good enough for them to take the match win.

“However even with the loss, we had to look forward to our next match,” said Milne. “We have a next-match mentality, we didn’t dwell on that loss and we dominated the next series. We will rematch them in the playoffs and I’m really looking forward to it.”

The following match, after falling to the Cougars, the Eagles took on the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks.

The Mavericks drastically struggled to find traction against the Eagles as the opening game mode of hardpoint saw the Eagles win, 250-11. The following two game modes, search and destroy and control, once again were easily controlled by the Eagles.

They would walk away from the match with a 3-0 series sweep.

The confidence boost for the Eagles is much needed, as they look to the regular season coming to a close and the playoffs draw nearer.

Now on the season, they sit 35-15 on game-mode wins while possessing a comfortable 10-4 overall record.

“The biggest thing we need to do, is just keep grinding,” said Donley. “[We need to] keep our foot on the gas, and look to get some revenge on some teams we lost in the regular season to, in the playoffs.”

The team will cap off its 2024 spring regular season against the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The two sides will go toe-to-toe on Tuesday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m.