PlayVS Road to College | Event Recap
Stay Plugged In and PlayVS came together to host their first LAN together since their announced partnership in December of 2022.
The PlayVS Road to College event took place this past weekend at Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut. The event featured competition play in League of Legends, Rocket League and Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate.
With seven local colleges in attendance, the on-site College Fair was in full swing as well, generating countless conversations between coaches and potential players.
Head Esports Coach at Hall High School, Sebastian Fortuna, says: “We wanted to make sure that these kids can get scholarships and really get the opportunity to really build their gaming resume in a sense.”
Kadin deRuijter, Esports Coordinator at St. Lawrence University made the six hour drive to West Hartford, to have the “proper start to a relationship”.
“... to introduce myself, be able to give out a brochure and a pamphlet and walk them through what St. Lawrence University is all about, and then even answering the questions they have, right then and there in person, instead of having to shoot emails back and forth has a huge impact…”
Other colleges in attendance included Post University, Quinnipiac University, University of Hartford, New England Tech, Anna Maria College and Fisher College.
Competition started on Saturday, with Team Miracle going undefeated in Round Robin Rocket League play. Team “We r gonna lose” also went undefeated on the League of Legends side.
With a strong 58 player turnout, day one of of Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate play resulted in 6 rounds to determine Sunday’s bracket seeding. Matthew “Bubbs” Stepnowsky came through undefeated, while also holding the largest point differential going into Sunday.
Check out the highlights and results from the PlayVS Road to College event below!
League of Legends
Highlights
Bracket play opened Sunday with a #2 seeded Bunnel Bullfrogs matchup against #3 seeded Starlight. The rematch from day one proved the same result as the Bullfrogs emerged victorious, with a 1-0 match win. Twenty minutes was all the time needed for the Bullfrogs, with a 28 kill difference and overpowering 8/2/10 (KDA) Tank play from Sophomore Tristan “xBagfoo” Lacouture on Jarvan IV.
Awaiting them in the Grand Finals, were “we r gonna lose” with a first-round bye. The day one matchup didn’t play well for the side of the Bullfrogs, however in a Best of 3 series, the matchup became a little more interesting.
A forty-eight minute, 36-18 kill difference in match one put the Bullfrogs up 1-0 in the series. Jason “LightSoul” Zhong proved the strongest in the Rift in this matchup, with an outstanding 16/5/5 KDA.
Tides changed and a strong performance out of “we r gonna lose” rekindled the flame in the matchup after game two. An Amumu switch from Wilson “WilsonC67” Chen proved to be the switch up they needed. They force a game three, tying the series at 1-1.
Game three in the series highlighted performances out of Seniors Jason “LightSoul” Zhong again and Leo “renskob” Boksner. Thirty minutes and 41/17 kill disparity for the favor of the Bullfrogs placed them on top of the series, as well as the tournament.
Champions
Bunnell Bullfrogs - (Winning Interview) Roster: renskob, LightSoul, xBagfoo, Rules101, TheBerniePhone
Rocket League
Highlights
Coming off strong a Saturday performance , #1 seeded Team Miracle received a Round 1 bye, and would play the winner of #4 Dreamland and #5 RL Hawks.Dreamland would come out on top of the series 3-0, and would meet a similar fate against Miracle in the Semi-Finals.
#2 Sheehan Titans drew the #3 seed Hall Rocket Titans, in what would end in a gentleman's sweep (3-1) in favor of the Sheehan Titans, sending them to the Grand Finals against Team Miracle. In a rematch of the second round of Round Robin the day before, one that Team Miracle came out on top of 3-1, the Sheehan Titans hoped to reverse the script.
Fortunately for Team Miracle, the script was better than the day previous, proving a 4-0 victory over the Titans, and remaining perfect on the weekend, minus the one map to the Titans on Saturday.
Champions
Team Miracle - (Winning Interview) Roster: Swazz, Alkaline, and Haz
Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate
Highlights
Stemming off an undefeated Saturday, #1 seeded Matthew “Bubbs” Stepnowsky entered Sunday with a first round bye. He continued his dominant performance, only dropping 1 game on Saturday to “Starfight”, until the two met again in Round 4 of bracket play.
In this match, Bubbs (a Lucas main) played his toughest series he’d have all weekend, winning in a 3-2 series score over the #8 seeded Starfight.
A 3-1 win over #3 Liam “Toxic” Bowen in the Semi-Finals poised him a spot in the Grand Finals, knocking Toxic down to the Lower Bracket Finals against Bubbs’ Round 5 opponent #5 seeded “Hammzinni”. Toxic, a Roy main, would come out on top 3-2 and position himself for a Grand Finals rematch against Bubbs.
This rematch would shift back into Bubbs favor, as he took the 3-0 victory over the Roy main and the tournament victory.
Champion - Bubbs (Junior) Groups Record: 6-0 | Bracket Record: 6-0 | Overall Game Record: 28-4
Runner Up - Toxic (Senior) Groups Record: 5-1 | Bracket Record: 5-2 | Overall Game Record: 29-9
Third Place - Hammzinni Groups Record: 5-1 | Bracket Record: 5-2 | Overall Game Record: 27-9