DANVILLE, Ky. – The Centre Esports squads continued spring action in the National Esports Collegiate Conferences (NECC) and Peach Belt Conference (PBC) with the Valorant and Rocket League teams winning all their contests in the Feb. 15-22 time frame and the League of Legends and Overwatch teams putting up good fights.  
   
ROCKET LEAGUE:    
 
Centre 3, Mount Vernon Nazarene University 0 (4-0, 3-1, 8-1)  
 
- Almost immediately in the first game, sush cant win (Grant Walker) scored a clean and wide open goal, placing himself in a good position against MVNU's defense. Shortly after, team captain Allstar_531 (Porter Kelley) scored a close goal, just barely getting the ball into the goal as MVNU desperately tried to defend it. Immediately after the ball was reset, Kelley scored again. He quickly found an opening, took a shot, and scored it with little to no challenge. Centre scored again when the Colonels deflected the ball and, with a spectacular pass from Kelley, Duroxy (Eddie Mora) scored. After a continuous back and forth in the closing final moments, Centre won match one. 
- Mora scored right after kickoff in the first three seconds of the match. Although down a match and a point, MVNU did not give up. ApllJuice from MVNU was able to tie the game 1-1. Mora took control of a deflection and hit the ball right into the goal As the game continued, there was a brief standstill, that did not end until Mora was seen soaring across the field, air dribbling the ball on his front bumper. Flying in the air, no one from MVNU was defending their goal and Centre scored.  
- In a display of dominance, match three was no different. Centre was seen scoring goal after goal. MVNU was completely thrown off and not able to stabilize. Centre gave little to no room for MVNU to defend and destroy whatever plan MVNU had going into match three. In a show of honor and perseverance, MVNU scored near the end of the game, showing that they gave their all and tried their best. But their best was not enough to take down Centre.  
  
 
Centre 3, Saginaw Valley State (Blue) 0 (2-1, 3-2, 6-3) 
 
- Riding high spirits from last week's complete domination of MVNU, Centre was looking to keep their undefeated record against Saginaw Valley State University. Off the bat, SVSU proved their defense was well practiced and their offense well-coordinated. Looking for an advantage, Centre got a few demos onto SVSU in attempts to break their defense. SVSU had a few close calls, almost scoring on Centre, but sush cant win (Grant Walker) and Allstar_531 (Porter Kelley) defended the goal with their thoroughly practiced mechanics and intuition. Well known for setting the tone in games when it comes to scoring, Duroxy (Eddie Mora) saw a tiny opening in SVSU's defense and dove for the ball. Squeezing between two players, Mora hit the ball right into the goal, just past another player who almost defended the goal. SVSU immediately scored a goal right after kickoff. Many teams are unable to keep up with Centre's speed, but SVSU showed that they could both keep up and speed it up even more. After numerous close calls from both teams and just three seconds left on the clock, Kelley hit the ball up into the air. Zooming above him was Mora slamming the ball right into the goal, ending match one in a flashy victory.  
- Centre kept the pressure up in the second match, continuously passing the ball and throwing it up into the air, pushing SVSU's defensive limits. Attempting to hit the ball away from their goal, SVSU hit it to Mora. Seeing the ball being passed straight to him, he jumped into action and hit the ball right over SVSU's heads and scored. sush cant win (Grant Walker) took a 50/50 ball next, going head to head with SVSU. Luckily for Centre, the ball was pinched by both players and flew straight into Kelley's peripheral, allowing Centre to score. SVSU continued to show their dominance over the kickoffs, winning nearly every 50/50 ball taken in the middle of the field. SVSU put Centre on their heels and scored a wide-open goal. To make matters worse for Centre, SVSU scored again in the latter half of the game which forced overtime. Despite SVSU setting up to score, Walker secured the ball and drove it to the other side of the field. Right behind him Mora took the ball into his possession and scored.
- With an opening goal,  Walker hit the ball onto the wall and Kelley was there to follow up. After multiple back and forth moments, both Centre and SVSU were able to score to make the tally 2-2. With two minutes left on the clock, Mora scored, breaking the standstill and allowing Centre to take the lead. Solidifying this lead, Walker drove up onto the wall of the arena and passed it. That pass went straight to Mora and Centre scored yet again. With a minute to go, SVSU was able to find one more goal but it was not enough. Centre swarmed SVSU and continued to score in the final minute of the game. In an effort to take the game to overtime, SVSU tried to find anything they could to score.They were unable to find anything to kept Centre with an undefeated record. 
 
 
OVERWATCH:    
 
Centre 1, Conestoga College (Academy) 3 
 
- Centre started their second match of the season off strong on the Busan map with a Hazard-dive composition that disrupted Conestoga in the first fight, allowing Centre to gain first control. Conestoga came back for the next fight, but Carp (Jacob Carpenter) retaliated with a triple-elimination Deadeye and shut them down. Conestoga's Junker Queen used their ultimate to cut Centre down for control of the point. From there, Conestoga managed to shut Centre down with good ultimate management to win round one. Conestoga carried their momentum into round two and spaced Centre out with constant pressure throughout the round. Because Centre could not adjust fast enough, Conestoga walked away with a game one win. Carp earned play of the game with a triple-elimination. 
- Midtown was the map for game two. Centre changed both their tank and support lineups, opting to play with a brawler style composition. This paid off as Centre swiftly pushed through and gained the first objective. Slow progress was made as Centre tried to pick apart Conestoga's poke-composition, and a good Baptiste ultimate from Adamah (Adam Hutchinson) created the space and leverage needed to push through the second phase of the map. Phase three of the map was dominated by Conestoga, however, as their positioning and timing were slightly more fine-tuned for defense, not allowing Centre to move the payload the entire distance. In round two on the defense, Centre stood little chance as Conestoga took over with their Junker Queen/Lucio speed. But Centre still had the chance to turn the match around in game three. 
- Just as they did versus GVSU, Centre played with a composition purely built to sustain and stay alive on the New Queen Street map, similar to what they did last time. And again, it worked. BigSoup (Blake Shrewsberry) tried his hand at Zarya to lead the vanguard which worked very well against Junker Queen. The battle went back and forth with each team making distance progress, but Centre very clearly controlled the game. Conestoga tried switching their character picks to do something, but ChonkyGhost (Jonathan Kromer) countered their swaps with his Cassidy. In the final fight, Centre took the game to overtime, and needed to shut down Conestoga only one more time, and Ratking (Drake Wright) used his Moira Coalescence to secure a team kill. ChonkyGhost got play of the game with Cassidy.  
- Because it worked in the last map, Centre chose to run the exact same composition as last round, but quickly found out that it doesn't work as well on Flashpoint as it did on Push. Conestoga quickly took the first flashpoint on New Junk City after Centre became disoriented. The second flashpoint did not fare much better when Conestoga's ultimate usage counted most of Centre, so Conestoga took the second point as well. The third point showed hope as Centre put up their last fight and brought the percentage to 99%. But unfortunately, Conestoga again showed the fruits of their practice and effort by overturning the point and holding Centre out until they could win the match. Kromer got his play of the game on Reaper with a nice Death Blossom. 
 

VALORANT:    
 
Centre 2, South Carolina Aiken (B) 0 (13-6, 13-6)  
 
- Lotus was up first for the Colonels. Centre decided to buy inexpensive guns instead of using the fist win to go all out. This strategy did not pan out as USCA bought more expensive guns while Centre continued to use their cheap guns from round two. This effectively set in motion a pattern where every other round Centre would have expensive guns and USCA had cheaper guns. A poor flank ended catastrophically for Centre which gave USCA an economic lead. The next round opened with the opposite as Centre rushed into fights which only led them to all die without getting much in return in a battle that evened the game 4-4. Centre approached the next few rounds with a moderately defensive playstyle and let USCA play into them instead of trying to outmaneuver USCA themselves. As USCA tried to make a play onto C site, 19 Dollars (Tommy Yu) retaliated with an impressive double kill that crippled USCA for the round leading to a round for Centre. Unfortunately for USCA, Yu would get a triple kill and secure the final round as well as the half in an impressive showing for the Colonel. 
- Centre made a statement with the first round of Bind by having an incredibly fast play style and blasting onto A site, wiping out all of USCA's defenders. The second round saw USCA trying to emulate that aggressiveness, but Centre was ready for it and shut down their flanking routes. While Centre won those first two rounds, they once again fell in the third round. The two teams started to trade rounds with each other and eventually tied until Clairo (Huston Mountjoy) would get a triple kill that started a five-round-long winning streak highlighted by proactive ultimate abilities and a focus on speed and trading deaths for kills. The first round of the second half did come down to the wire, but Centre miraculously took it and used that win to fuel a win for the next three rounds. USCA put a stop to the streak and while they doidstart winning at match point, Centre started playing conservatively in order to come back full force in a few rounds. Klippy (Vedant Bhagat) finished off USCA with a triple kill to win the round and the series. 

Centre 2, Florida Southern 0 (13-6, 13-4)  
 
- The match opened up with a booming round one on Lotus as wh1sper (Dewey Du) got an impressive quadra kill. This set them up for a great start. Centre's primary play style is to stay together and fast as the team rushes onto any site they target and from there split off into smaller teams to attack the entrances to that site. This strategy worked really well as the Colonels went on massive winning streak and did not lose a single round until round 10. Centre had been evenly spacing out their ultimate abilities and round 10 was a round that Centre came up short since FSU had a lot of ultimates to spare. Centre was able to mitigate a lot of FSU's momentum late, but they still got two rounds on Centre. FSU starts the next half strong with an overwhelming win that gave them the round 2 win, but when Centre was able to buy rifles they won two more rounds, putting the game at match point. Centre approached the next few rounds a too flashy which gave FSU some leverage in the match, but Centre had accumulated enough ults to mitigate that factor and win the match. 
- On Bind, Centre once again got off to a great start as they began with Du getting a triple kill. While the initial rounds came to dire plays and close calls, Centre kept a steady stream of wins through a handful of ultimates by using a few ultimates of their own. A lot of the rounds being so close meant that FSU saved up so they caught up and won round seven. Centre quickly recovered and through rounds that came down to one or two minor plays they regained the lead and maintained dominance throughout the half to finish 10-2 in Centre's favor. FSU gained a strong lead and won the first two rounds of the second half which put Centre in a position to buy cheaper guns. That works to Centre's favor as they bought a few shotguns and adopted a stealthier play style, waiting for FSU players to get close before pouncing with high damage shotguns. The win came with minimal casualties so Centre was able to purchase nicer rifles. Du got a triple kill on match point that secured the series. 

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS:    
 
Centre 1, Florida State University, Panama City 2  
 
- Centre played from a bit of an underdog position in this match. Both teams took two tanks and a melee duelist in the for their top lane, jungle, and mid lane. In the bottom lane, Centre preferred a magic damage carry champion and an enchanter, while FSU put more focus on the physical with a traditional attack damage carry and another tank. Traditional midlaner, MetroMina (Mina Hartman), was moved to strongly counter FSU's skilled top laner. Centre would get first blood in the bottom lane, with the duo of MandaloreTheWise (Winter Collins) and SolarPikachu1 (Tim Trieu) besting FSU's bottom lane in a straight 2v2 fight. FSU quickly came back with a kill from their midlaner onto Centre's midlaner. Both teams moved in lockstep on kills and got alternating major objectives throughout the early game. Centre won a major teamfight in the 24th minute and killed all 5 opposing players. Unfortunately, FSU had just before taken down a major objective that prevented them from actually being killed, robbing Centre of a critical play in winning this match. A move away from the Baron objective for Centre left the rest of FSU's team to take Baron, which they used to successfully siege Centre's base and start a snowball that would lead to their victory.  
- In the second game, compositions were similar to the first. Strong gameplay from Moss Hoss (Cole Whitt) in the top lane helped ensure Centre did not need to worry about that part of the map, nor FSU's great top laner, leaving MegaNoodles (Tenghoit Kouch) free to help out in other parts of the map. The game started even, but a bot lane gank by Kouch let Centre get a bit of a lead and empower Collins' Aurelian Sol. That started Centre's snowball to victory. Centre continued to shut down FSU's team in fight after fight and pick up every major objective, creating a massive power imbalance even in the mid game. Even despite that, FSU would hold strong, keeping the game going until 35 minutes. 
- In the third game, Centre kept the same team comp formula as the last two games, but FSU went for a more aggressive and speedy attack power composition. FSU's Skarner champion rushed into the bot lane for a very fast gank at the four-minute mark, yielding FSU the first two kills of the match. FSU's jungler continued to gank well, denying Centre the ability to pick up lane leads in the early game, starting FSU's snowball to victory early. Despite that, kills were quite few and far between in the early game. Despite power imbalances, Centre would manage to win a few teamfights and get two dragon objectives. FSU's pick of Aurora in the midlane would reveal itself to be a very strong one, as she became a damage powerhouse in the late game that Centre would find extremely difficult to defeat. The combined weight of these setbacks, and FSU better scaling champions, would be Centre's ultimate defeat 

Centre 1, South Carolina Aiken 2  
 
- Centre stuck to their tried-and-true tanky top and jungle and magic damage/enchanter bot lane in game one while USC chose a comp with a bit less tanks and more physical damage. The game started slow, with only three kills coming out in the first 10 minutes. Centre's came both from ganks, showing good early proactiveness from jungler MegaNoodles (Tenghoit Kouch). Centre would also give a great showing in 1v1s in top and midlane, demonstrating the skill of Moss Hoss (Cole Whitt) and MetroMina (Mina Hartman). Unfortunately, Centre had two negative through lines this game with over aggression and Centre's over performance in the top and mid lane not matched in the bot lane. A mid-game lead allowed USC to easily get dragon soul and baron, and the game was a foregone conclusion from that point. 
- Centre's comp stayed just as tanky in the second game, but shifted from magic to physical damage to combat USC's more tank heavy composition. The game started as slow as the last one, but the first two Centre kills came from 1v1s in the top lane, showing Centre's continued dominance there, and a further two kills came when Whitt was able to desperately fend off a gank until help was able to arrive. Without a credible gank threat and with Kouch's help, the bot lane was able to be much more effective this game and win their fights and push through that first turret quite fast. This helped set up the snowball on Centre's ADC, MandaloreTheWise (Winter Collins). His support SolarPikachu1 (Tim Trieu) was right by his side throughout the game, eventually racking up a truly impressive KDA of 25.0. Despite Centre's early and enduring advantage, USC fought extremely hard, and pushed this to a 35 minute game before Centre was finally able to claim victory. 
- Game three saw Centre switch back to a comp similar to that from Game one, as would USC. Unfortunately, Whitt did not keep up his dominant position in the top lane this game, and Kouch once again had poor roaming in the jungle. This kept Centre from having the macro advantages that the team enjoyed during the critical laning phase last game. Kouch had a massive quadra kill in the dragon pit, and strong mid game ganks in bot.A lack of discipline in positioning in the jungle and in teamfights allowed USC to claw their way back to parity, though. The game became a scaling race between Hartman on Smolder and USC's jungler on Kindred. The game would stall for a bit as both teams tried to gather gold and scale as fast as possible, but USC's acquisition of a second Baron Buff would see Kindred lead their team like a bulldozer through Centre's base. Centre would repel that assault, but one elder dragon kill by USC later it would be all over. They had just gotten too powerful in a 45 minute game. 
 
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.