LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Centre Overwatch esports team celebrated Overwatch 2's recent release at the UKY Bluegrass Bowl, an invitational hosted by the University of Kentucky that invited seven different programs to compete. The Colonels had plenty of bright moments during the 11 rounds of action on Saturday, finishing with a final record of 5-4.
 
The Gold and White's record bodes high expectations for the upcoming National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) season, the Bluegrass Bowl marking the first set of competitions in Overwatch 2. The series' sequel features new maps to compete in, new game modes to battle in and plenty of changes to the statistics that build each of the game's over 30 unique brawlers. The upcoming NECC season will be in the new Overwatch 2 game, so the Colonels utilized this event as a first look to their team's composition and strategies.
 
One of the Gold and White's best performances came in round four, the Colonels facing off against the University of Louisville's Red team, the top squad of the program's two teams. Centre would come to a clean 2-0 sweep in the series, winning the best of three quickly on their way to a winning record on the day.
 
The first map the team played in the series against Louisville was on Colosseo, a new map in Overwatch 2 that hosts the new game mode, "Push." The team's objection in the game mode is the lead a robot to push a barricade into the direction of the enemy spawn, where the teams push as far as they can. The Colonels were able to get an early lead after picking the opponent's Junker Queen, Kevin Wu (VEcToR) and James Perry (whosjames) getting eliminations early in the first fight. whosjames and Joseph Matthews (Galvanijo) would catch a peaking Genji to continue the roll, VEcToR finding a two-elimination Dragon Blade ultimate to snowball even farther past the first checkpoint. 
 
Louisville would try to reply with a Dragon Blade of their own, but Jonathan Kromer (Chonkyghost) would place a well-timed Immortality Field in combo with Galvanijo D. Va Self-Destruct. Blake Brigham (BlakuBlaku) would play one of Overwatch 2's newest heroes, Kiriko, proving to be a solid choice that was aggressive enough to steal an elimination in a team fight that had just kicked off mid-way through the map. BlakuBlaku would use Kiriko's ultimate, Kitsune Rush, in combination with VEcToR's Dragon Blade in the final team fight, the duo knocking two opposing players off that play alone as the timer expired to a map victory.
 
Centre would play Circuit Royal as the series' second map, an escort map introduced in Overwatch 2. The Colonels started the map on defense, whosjames garnering an elimination in the first 10 seconds of the round starting by winning the one v. one off the opposing Widowmaker. After the team picked off a Cardinal to continue the defensive stall, whosjames rattled off two-consecutive headshots to send the opposing team to spawn. 
 
On offense, Centre would need to push the payload the distance in order to force overtime in the round. The Gold and White would have an impressive start in a sneaky fashion, BlakuBlaku skating into the opposing Sigma as Lucio for a KO on Louisville's tank player. Galvanijo then soon after landed a giant Earthshatter ultimate as Reinhardt as the teams reengaged, the team earning a team kill with the ultimate leading to three eliminations instantly. The Colonels would complete the map easily off the back of a Dragon Blade distraction, BlakuBlaku once again sneaking through the back line to take an elimination to open the flood gates that was the offense.
 
The Cardinals only had one minute of overtime compared to the Colonels' three minutes and 14 seconds, Louisville on the offense first. The Gold and White would only allow Louisville to reach the first checkpoint, Centre only needing a handful of meters to win the map. whosjames selected Bastion would another round of Centre's signature turret strategy on escort maps, boding well in an early team fight for a team elimination, just meters away from the victory. He'd melt the opposing Reinhardt to leave the Cardinals without a shield, the opening perfect for a VEcToR final two-elimination ultimate on Genji to claim the win.
 
Below is a quick list of all the round Centre played and the results:
 
Centre 2 – 0 Western Kentucky (B)
Centre 2 – 0 Eastern Kentucky
Centre 2 – 1 Louisville (Black)
Centre 2 – 0 Louisville (Red)
Murray State 2 – 0 Centre
Kentucky (White) 2 – 0 Centre
Kentucky (White) 2 – 0 Centre
Western Kentucky (A) 2 – 0 Centre
Centre 2 – 0 Kentucky (Black)
 
The Colonels will soon kick off their NECC season, having now concluded their scrimmages and the new release of Overwatch 2. Stay tuned to all the updates on all things Centre Athletics at centrecolonels.com.