DANVILLE, Ky. – The Centre Esports squads began the spring season of National Esports Collegiate Conferences (NECC) and Peach Belt Conference (PBC) play with a 6-2 tally. 
  
ROCKET LEAGUE:   

Centre 3, King's College (Red) 1 (6-3, 1-3, 6-2, 5-2) 

- The NECC Placement Tourney started with a best of five series versus King's College. Centre put on a dominant performance for their first game of the year, picking up five goals in two minutes, while King's College was shutout. That was achieved by Centre's blazing offensive pressure, doggedly keeping the ball on King's College side of the field for the first few minutes of the match. Allstar531(Porter Kelley) scored the first goal of the year for the Colonels. KC found their mojo in the last two minutes of the first game, breaking Centre's midfield wall with well-placed demos to score a combination of long and short shots. 
- The second game saw the continuation of King's aggression, with a combination of long shots and Centre's inability to clear the ball when it was near their net allowing King's to win the game by a score of 2-1. 
- Centre came back swinging in game three, with Duroxy (Eddie Mora) scoring off an excellent Sush (Grant Walker) assist to open it up. King's quickly found two more goals, one off another aborted Centre attempt to clear, and the other a very fast one off the kickoff. The Colonels then found their footing from the first game again, and once again began monopolizing the ball in King's territory. Sush continued his dominant streak with two more incredible aerial goals, finishing Centre off  with a 6-2 win in the third game. 
- In game 4, the ball was once again back and forth in the early going. Centre once again got it under control after the game became tied at 2-2, and scored goal after goal until it was 6-4 by the end. All of Centre's goals in that match were heavy assist plays, showing off the setup and finishing ability of all three players. 
 

Centre 3, Morningside 1 (4-3, 1-2, 3-1, 2-1) 

- The NECC Placement Tourney moved on to a best of five series versus Morningside University. 
- Unfortunately, the first game started off with a goal in the first four seconds of the match from Morningside. That was then followed up by two more goals in quick succession from Morningside, with Centre allowing them in through some rookie mistakes. The Colonels managed to find three more goals in the last two and a half minutes to tie the game up and then found the overtime goal to pull out the win. 
- In a strange parallel to the first game, Centre managed to score an extremely early goal in the first play, but then lost the game in overtime. 
- Luckily the Colonels managed to find two very close wins in the last two games of the match. They finished off this tournament undefeated. The last game was 1-0 in Morningside's favor all the way up to the last 20 seconds, but Duroxy (Eddie Mora) was able to find two goals in extremely quick succession to win it for Centre. 

 

Centre 3, Indiana University-Kokomo 0 (3-2, 3-0, 5-0) 

- The first game of the NECC regular season started off with Centre instantly gaining control of the ball, but IU-K responded quickly and turned the game into a back-and-forth rally. Duroxy (Eddie Mora) blocked IUK's first shot but could not stop the follow-up shot. This lead was tied up instantly when Allstar (Porter Kelley) and Sush (Grant Walker) made a beautiful combo play, where Allstar air dribbled the ball into midfield for a clean pass to Sush. IU-K answered right back with their own goal, putting the pressure back on Centre to perform. Thankfully, Duroxy made two more goals back-to-back and a massive save, securing the Colonels the first game win by 3-2. 
- Duroxy continued to be a playmaker as they stole the first goal from their own teammate, Allstar, in the first 8 seconds of the second game. Then the whole team made a triple pass from backfield and secured another goal, finished by Duroxy again. After four minutes of back-and-forth play, Sush scored another goal to complete the round 3-0. 
- IU-K and Centre fought back and forth until Duroxy scored another goal for first blood. The second shot was made by Sush who hit the ball from middle field after a nice set up from the rest of the team. Allstar used IU-K to bounce the ball off of to make his own goal. IU-K had no chance to catch up after Duroxy made yet another goal with one minute left on the clock and Allstar finished it with one last goal to end the game 5-0. 


OVERWATCH:   

Centre 2, Indiana University (Cream) 1 

- The NECC Placement Tourney saw Centre go head-to-head with Indiana University to start the season. The first map was a Control map placed in Nepal. Both teams came out blazing, looking to gain the advantage in the first fight of the game. Over the course of round 1, Centre was dominating the fights and control over the point, displaying a sense of comfort and synergy. Just as Centre was about to capture the point, Indiana swung right back at them in hopes of extending the round and winning the point themselves falling just short. Centre was off to a rough start as Indiana made some crucial character swaps to have the fight advantage. In a desperate attempt for control of the point, Centre changes their plans and pushed straight to the point, forcing Indiana to give up the high ground and face them head on. Indiana ended up taking control of the point for the remainder of the round. In the third round, Centre returned to their comfort picks and was able to lay a strong foundation and hold the point against Indiana's attacks. Utilizing their ultimate abilities efficiently and effectively, Centre won the first match.  
- The second match took place in 'Push' on Colosseo. Centre came out with an exciting character lineup, aiming to look for an aggressive advance. Even with an exciting new lineup, the Colonels had trouble finding their footing against Indiana. The opposition showed no mercy in testing Centre's new line-up, looking to catch them off guard in any way possible. Centre tried to fight back, looking for any openings, but was unable to find any and fell without being able to push the robot.  
- Both teams were placed in Flashpoint on Suravasa for the third match. It us known that Centre is very comfortable on that map. Sticking with a similar line up, the Colonels kept up their assertive play style. Centre began with dominating the map, winning the first two points with some push back from Indiana. On the third, Indiana was able to hold back against Centre, showing the Colonels that they are still in the game. This glimmer of hope was then quickly taken away as Centre wiped the map fourth point, taking the win for match 3 and the game as a whole. 


Centre 1, Cal State San Marcos 2 

- The NECC Placement Tourney moved on and saw Centre go on to face California State San Marcos. The first match had both teams playing Control on the map Lijiang Tower. Centre used yet another new lineup in a bid to earn the win. Despite having a very strong start, the Colonels were met with an overwhelming advancement by San Marcos. San Marcos remained strong for the remainder of the match, giving Centre no room to make significant attacks or changes.  
- Moving onto match two, both teams were placed in Push on Colosseo. Changing up their plans, Centre attempted to show their new 'dive' line up for the fans watching. Off to a rough start, San Marcos made it clear that the game would not be an easy one, forcing Centre to either back away or be more aggressive. Going back and forth in control of the robot, there were scrappy fights happening all around. After a few more of those fights, Centre not only found their footing, but ran with it, seeming to find their groove with this new team composition. Making advancement after advancement, Centre took complete control of the game, pushing San Marcos back and winning match two.  
- Onto the third and final match, the teams played Flashpoint on New Junk City. Changing the lineup again, Centre was trying to test out different compositions and lineups to find effective new ways to utilize the characters and abilities available to them. On an often uncomfortable and unfamiliar map, it was apparent that San Marcos was much more comfortable and confident than Centre. Even so, the Colonels put up a fight, forcing San Marcos into some sticky situations. Undeterred by Centre's aggression, San Marcos remained in control of the points, winning both the match and the game as a whole. 


Centre 2, Northwestern 0 

- The last game of the NECC Placement Tournament started on the Samoa map. Centre decided to open the map with Adamah (Adam Hutchinson) in the tank role with an interesting character, Mauga. While a lot of damage was thrown back and forth to start, the team bit off a little more than they could chew and lost the fight. The Colonels took a different approach and took the next fight slower which made NW antsy as their characters specialize in jumping into fights to deal a lot of damage in a short amount of time. Centre was able to separate the oppositions players and take them out one by one giving Centre point control for the first time in the series. The next fight was easily won by Centre as Adamah forced NW's tank into a small fight just between them which Centre quickly wins. Both teams started throwing all of their ults at the point and start trading ownership. In a last-ditch effort Centre decided to retry their aggressive strategy, and it provided an immediate kill on NW's support line. This created an opening for Centre to recapture and win the first submap. On the second submap of Samoa, Centre used a risky plan to start which worked and Centre captured the point and then went on to gain a huge lead. Centre staggers their ultimates in order to maintain pressure on the point and resist anyone trying to get a fast contest on the point leading to Centre winning the first map. 
- Runasapi was map two and the tank role moved over to Chonkyghost (Jonathan Kromer) who's job was to dive into the enemy team. Centre's tank was Winston, a tank known for high mobility and jumping in and out of fights at will, which NW also decided to run. Centre eliminated NW's tank before getting aggressive on the rest of the team. The Colonels were reliably able to wait out an attack and provoke NW to attack first. Centre did try to occasionally go on the offensive but, much like when NW tried it, it doesn't work very well. Both teams went back and forth as NW caught on to Centre's strategy. Despite this, Centre consistently prevailed and only when Chonkyghost was left with 19 health did Centre finally win the map and the series. 
 

Centre 1, Grand Valley State 3 

- Centre started the first round of the spring 2025 regular season testing out their dive skills on Oasis, with a starting lineup of Chonkyghost (Jonathan Kromer) on Winston as tank, Carp (Jacob Carpenter) on Sojourn and StarGarden (Leif Becker) on Genji for damage, and Adamah (Adam Hutchinson) on Brigitte and Powers (Caleb Pelanne) on Ana for the support roles. The new dive strategy was no match for GVSU's own dive-oriented composition. The Lakers instantly took out Centre's tank and was oppressive with their gameplan of distracting and splitting up the supports, which gave them a round one win. In round two, Centre made some lineup changes trying to add some speed with a Juno and extra damage with Reaper, but GVSU's organized play was again too troublesome for Centre, making round two another unsuccessful attempt. 
- Centre had the ability to choose the map this time, and they tactically chose Blizzard World as the initial objective has long sight lines and is generally harder to run a dive composition. Centre also abandoned their dive composition in favor of a brawl-focused one, with Rammatra at the helm, Mei and Bastion as damage, and Baptiste and Juno as supports. That matters very little to GVSU, where their game plan remained the exact same. The first Colonel attempt was on offense, and got very close to securing the point, but GVSU held Centre off at the very end.  
- Centre knew something needed to change so ChonkyGhost tried his hand at Cassidy, on the New Queen Street map, to shut down the mobility flankers of GVSU while BigSoup (Blake Shrewsberry) came in as tank on Orisa. This time, StarGarden and Ratking (Drake Wright) were on supports using Kiriko and Moira. This time, Centre was able to turn things around, as they slowly but surely obtained more progress on the objective and took a considerable lead in distance. GVSU's dive had a harder time dealing with the new team lineup and Carp made sure GVSU could not make back up the distance they were down by securing a three-elimination Death Blossom, which he also had done earlier in the round. The real MVP of the match was Ratking, who ended the map with over 30,000 healing and consistently made sure the team was healthy enough to win critical fights.   
- The first flashpoint on Suravasa was a back-and-forth tussle between the two teams, but ultimately GVSU set the pace and took flashpoint one after a 99% to 99% overtime battle. Centre did not give up though and took flashpoint number two after a Sound Barrier engage from StarGarden's Lucio. Centre took control of flashpoint three as well and held for above 80%, but a copied Reaper ultimate from GVSU's Echo wiped Centre out giving them control. After GVSU took flashpoint three, Centre did not give up and took point four. On the final flashpoint, Centre looked very promising to win the map, and after multiple fights they brought their progress to 95%. However, GVSU finally shut Centre down with their ultimates, and took the game. 

VALORANT:   

Centre 2, Georgia College 0 (13-5, 13-4) 

- The Colonels opened the PBC season with a bout with GCSU. Some roster changes on Bind provided a sneak peek into what the upcoming season would look like. With 19 Dollars (Tommy Yu) in the primary Dualist slot he did not disappoint as Yoru. He made spaces unlike any other performance of his in previous seasons. 19 Dollars (Tommy Yu) was able to draw a lot of attention to himself without revealing his position which generated an aura of misdirection around him leading to a 2-0 start and five kills before his first death. As the match progressed, a change in Centre's team became more abundantly clear. wh1sper (Dewey Du) is always right behind "19 Dollars" (Tommy Yu) as they both made space and took over the sites. When one of Centre team fell there was always someone right next to them to turn their loss into a trade and hopefully a profit. Centre won five rounds in a row before taking their second loss and finished the half 9-3. With the Colonels' attacking power being so strong, it would stand to reason that Centre might have done a little worse when faced with the defensive half. However, Centre made a habit of flanking around GCSU and treating the round as an attack round. This worked remarkably well as Centre dominated the second half and only allowed GCSU to win a single round before winning the map and series. 

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 and recaps of action.