DANVILLE, Ky. – The Centre Esports teams wrapped up a successful start to the season with strong performances in the month of September in the National Esports Collegiate Conferences (NECC) and the Peach Belt Conference (PBC).  

VALORANT:   

Centre 1, Texas A&M (Reveille) 0 (13-7) 

- The NECC Placement Tournament started the Esports season for Centre with a bang. 
- Centre began the Valorant match with a lot of momentum from the team's aggressive play style while on attack. That play style gave the Colonels a lead going into the second half. Centre's prioritized collecting information while TAMU Reveille was more specialized to hold space and slow things down. 
- In the 18th round, Dewey Du (wh1sper) made the risky play to stick the defuse while in a smoke and nearly pulled it off—being stopped by the enemy with just .25 seconds left. Bryan led the team to a near flawless half finishing with an impressive 26 kills. 
- The win moved the Gold & White to the second round of the Play-in Tournament. 

Centre 1, Texas A&M (Midnight) 0 (13-9)  

- Centre started on defense in the second match against the Texas institution. On the opening pistol round, TAMU Midnight's and the Colonels go back and forth. Centre came alive in round 3, thanks to getting rifles, earned themselves a flawless victory. Towards the end of the half, the Colonels started to take over the match. 
- The sides switched and the Centre lost a round due to an improper spike placement that did not allow for a clean shot. That gave the TAMU squad enough momentum to cut the lead. Fortunately for Centre the Colonels took the final three rounds and the win.  
- Hung Le (ixora) drove home the win on the final round by stalling until the last second to win by time. 
- The win moved the Gold & White to the third round of the Play-in Tournament. 

Centre 0, Thomas College 1 (6-13)  

- The final game of the marathon night to open the season was unkind to Centre. The game was close to start as the Colonels won the first two rounds of action. Centre was knocked back by Thomas in the fourth round, but came back thanks to 19 dollars' patience and precision. Thomas then used flexibility to rally together and win 6 in a row.  
- In the last round of the half, wh1sper managed to win a 2 versus 1 clutch, but Centre found limited success in second half. The Colonels ended the play in tournament with a 2-1 overall record. 

Centre 2, Northeastern (Aqua) 0 (13-3, 13-4)  

- Centre fell to Northeastern Aqua in the first two rounds of action. In the third round Bryan Tran (bryan) kicked off a comeback for the Colonels with a quadra kill. Centre rode that momentum to secure an eight-round lead by half and taking the first map. Tran finished the round with a K/D of 27-9 and 10 first bloods.  
- On the next map Aaron Klein (howl) got the team off to a strong start with a string of multi kills within the first five rounds. Not much additional ground is covered until Tommy Yu (19 dollars) managed to get a triple kill and Le denied Northeastern Aqua's spike plant. The teams switched sides with Centre having a four-round lead. The Colonels won the pistol round, which devastated Northeastern Aqua's economy, putting Centre in the best position possible to finish the map quickly. Northeastern Aqua was able to gather enough money to put up one more good round but Klein denied them any momentum by getting a quadra kill.  

Centre 2, Southern New Hampshire (Yellow) 0 (13-6, 13-6)  

- Centre won the first round to start off strong. SNHU stabilized their economy en route to a third round win. The Colonels benefited from Du's constant use of Gekko's ultimate ability, Thrash. They gained and used that ultimate ability three times in just the first half. Centre finished the first map and Tran had with 28 kills and a nine-kill lead. 
- In the second half, SNHU upheld a similar pattern to their previous game where they failed to secure their first round, and the Colonels took every advantage of that. Centre heavily emphasized setting up aggressive plays with support from everyone on the team. After winning the initial pistol round, Centre bought long range DMR's and snipers and attacked site C, known for its wide open space and long corridors to approach from. The Colonels prevailed with the same score as the second half in the win. 

OVERWATCH WHITE:    

Centre 3, Columbus State (Blue) 0   

- Centre fell in the first fight on the Nepal map, the Colonels then took a win at the control point. With Blake Shrewsberry's (BigSoup) Orisa tank play and Adam Hutchinson's (ADAMAH) Brigitte offering extra defensive tools for the team, Centre saw success on the map. In round two, it was a back-and-forth battle to maintain control of the objective. A Blizzard from Lucas Poynter (SkelloJello) froze four CSU players which helped the Colonels win the map 2-0. 
-  The Paraíso map was next and Centre opted to play defense first. CSU took the first control point and pushed the payload all the way until the last section of the map. With the clock on overtime and four teammates out of the fight, Poynter stepped up with a Reaper death blossom that got the final elimination to seals the round. In round tho, Centre's Winston dive composition shook up the game, leading to an eventual full-push to the end that took the map. 
- The final map was New Queen Street. With Diego Loera (DoodooBoodoo) constantly in CSU back line as Reaper, Centre made steady progress pushing the robot through New Queens Street. With the added damage from Drake Wright's (RatKing) perfectly timed nano boost, Leif Becker (StarGarden) stuck CSU Blue's tank with a pulse bomb, securing the elimination and turning the flow of the match back in Centre's favor. Finally, Hutchinson's spacing and pressure led Centre White to their first victory as members of the Peach Belt Conference. 

Centre 3, Florida State Panama City (Garnet) 1  

- The Lijang Tower map was the first up for Centre. The layout was the site of a back-and-forth battle. FSUPC won round one to take an early lead, but the Centre White team came back to take round two. FSUPC's Ultimate ability usage was strong and utilized to the Colonels' opponent's advantage in the final round. That skill proved to be too much at the end of the round, winning them the first map.  
- King's Row was the second map and it provided a different result for Centre. The Colonel team flipped the tables on the map with their signature Zarya Dive team composition. Loera's flanks and follow-ups combined with Shrewsberry's Zarya barriers helped the Centre team secure wins in the first and second rounds at King's Row. After both teams escorted the objective to the end, Centre full-held the first objective in round 3 defense and swept FSUPC on the attack, sealing map two. 
- Colosseo was the final map for the Centre White and FSUPC match up. The Colonels had an impressive showing on Colosseo, with the game only lasting three minutes and 20 seconds, when the team had 10 minutes allotted. Constant damage output from Becker and Loera made it all possible, making the map a clean victory for Centre. 
- New Junk City was the final map and the result was very similar to the map before. Again the Centre White signature team composition made light work of FSUPC Garnet. The disorienting nature of Centre's game plan took the map 3-0, winning Centre the game 3-1.  

OVERWATCH GOLD:    

Centre 3, Montevallo 0   

- Blake Brigham (BlakuBlaku) was on tank, Johnathan Kromer (Chonkyghost) and Jacob Carpenter (Carp) on damage, and Rashawn Butler (Toonie) and Baxter Keith (Runner) on support, Centre Gold's team synergy swept Montevallo.  
- Gold's signature Rush team composition–Rammatra, Bastion, Mei, Baptiste, and Lucio–was the major factor in their victory.    

Centre 0, Converse (Purple) 3 

- The second OW Gold match of the season was against new PBC foe, and one of the nation's best Esports teams, Converse Purple. All 5 members were top-ranked players in Competitive for Overwatch. The first map of Busan saw the Converse team be extremely oppressive, first running a Brawl-type composition in round one and then a Dive-type composition in round two.  
- Map two, Blizzard World, worked better for Centre however. After a seemingly hopeless battle, ultimates from Brigham's Rammatra and Butler's Baptiste were just enough to turn the tides and capture the first point, showcasing the resilience and team play Centre Gold has. Unfortunately, their advance was stopped by Converse shortly after, and Converse made one big push in round two to win the map.  
- On Colloseo, the final map, Converse rolled Centre Gold to wrap up the game 0-3. 

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS:    

Centre 1, Paradise Valley Community College 0   

- First years members Mina Hartman (MetroMina) and Winter Collins (Mandalorethewise) made their debut for the team in the NECC event. Collins picked up the role of ADC playing Cho'Gath in this first game of the tourney. Hartman played midlane with former midlaner Nick Minton (orbiterpluto) switching to support. The game started close, but towards the mid game PVCC gained the lead with some well-placed kills. However, thanks to a massive triple stun from Collins, the Colonels won a crucial team fight at the 24 minute mark, allowing them to take down Baron Nashor and gain a powerful buff. Centre pushed into PVCC's base taking more objectives and picking kills. They managed to pick up a second Baron buff and, through strong play, from Hartman destroyed the nexus and win the game. She led the scoreboard in damage with an incredible 37,298 as well as 428 gold per minute. 

Centre 1, Robert Morris (Academy Red) 0   

- Round two of the placement tourney was a dominant showing. Centre started out strong thanks to a series of well-executed ganks by Hartman and Tenghoit Kouch (MegaNoodles). This propelled the team into winning multiple team fights and key objectives, eventually culminating in their victory. The squad finished with an incredible lead of 23 kills and 16k gold, with Hartman almost achieving the incredibly difficult feat of killing all five opposing players at once in the final fight. Though the last hit of this ace was tragically stolen by Minton, she was still honored with the first Play of the Week. 

Centre 0, Tennessee (White) 1  

- The third round of the placement tourney featured two 2-0 teams. While the early game was characterized by back and forth kills between the teams, UT slowly gained the edge. A few losing team fights in the mid game led to Centre being far behind and seemingly unable to recover, but a valiant comeback attempt was made as the Colonels won a team fight at the 34 minute mark. Unfortunately, it was not enough and five minutes later Knoxville was able to invade Centre's base and destroy the Nexus, winning the game. Centre completed the placement tourney with a positive 2-1 record. 

Centre 2, Ithica (Blue) 0 

-With Veigar and Karma, Centre had high amounts of burst magic damage that allowed them to quickly take down Ithaca's back line once Moss Hoss's Camille had dove on and trapped them. A slow start for Centre turned around in 17 minutes. Centre took full control of Ithaca's side of the map by 28 minutes, having key aggressive plays on the way to the win. 
- The Ithaca squad chose a larger balance of damage and tank characters in the second game, as well as magic and physical damage. Centre prioritized tank characters, giving a strong front line to Hartman to protect her from Ithaca's more numerous damage characters. Both teams started the game very cautiously, with the first kill only coming seven minutes in. At 23 minutes, Centre was able to secure Baron buff and use that added strength to invade Ithaca's base, swiftly winning the game. 

  

ROCKET LEAGUE:    

Centre 3, South Carolina – Aiken (B) 0 

- Centre applied pressure through the series that USCA was never able to match The Colonels did not allow USCA to meaningfully get possession at any point in game one. Many of Centre's shots did not translate into goals in the first half, but the squad managed to score a whopping four goals in two minutes in the back half.  
- In game two, the Colonels showcased their mechanical prowess, teamwork, and aggression in scoring a whopping eight goals--most of which were beautifully executed passing plays.  
- Game three was a bit slower in terms of goals, but was still just as one-sided. USCA got an unexpected goal off of kickoff, but it was just a drop in the ocean of overwhelming Centre College offensive pressure. 

Centre 1, Florida Southern (B) 3 

- The second game of the season was a heartbreaking loss to the current top team in the division. Centre took the lead by scoring two close goals, winning game one.  
- Going into the second game, FSC was able to find their footing, and scored two goals halfway through the game. Centre fought back with just a minute left in the game, scoring once but Florida Southern was able to pull through with an additional goal.  
- Florida Southern started game three off strong. Centre fought tooth and nail and was able to take some shots of their own, putting Florida on the defense, but it wasn't enough to win the match. In match four, Centre began to apply pressure in every possible angle on Florida Southern, putting them more on the defensive, but it was not enough in the loss. 

Centre 3, North Georgia 0 

- Centre took on North Georgia looking to regain momentum for this season. Going into match 1, Centre started off strong with a quick goal in the first 20 seconds of the game. The Colonels' passing and shots were on point and the squad took match one with confidence.  
- The second match showed off Centre's impressive car mechanics, with the cars flipping into the air and landing shots in the win for the Colonels.  
- Centre had a great showing in the third match. Despite what seemed like a neutral start, the Colonels quickly took possession of the ball.  Keeping North Georgia on their toes, Centre positioned well everywhere on the field. North Georgia was finding points of resistance, looking for gaps in Centre's defense, but nothing was able to come of it. 

UP NEXT    
The Gold & White have a full slate of games coming up as the season progresses. Visit CentreColonels.com for the full Esports schedule.