RIVER FOREST, ILL. – In their inaugural season with Concordia University Chicago Athletics, the Esports team made a splash going undefeated in regular season play in Rainbow Six Siege (R6) while qualifying for the playoffs in both R6 and Overwatch.
"For our first season I think things went pretty well," First year Head Coach
Joshua Mol said. "We had teams that consisted of mostly freshmen in R6 and a mix of students for Overwatch! Our first season for R6 we went 6-0 in regular season but sadly got beat round one of playoffs to end top 8. Our team was young and nerves got the better of them. Overwatch started rough and didn't get their first game win and match win till spring semester. But, starting out 0-3 and making playoffs and even top 4? I will take that considering we had students just learning the game."
Season Recap
R6 Season
The season kicked off with a win over the University of Cumberlands (Ky.) on October 3
rd where the Cougars picked up the program's first ever victory 2-0. They would then go on a 5-0 win streak throughout the course of the season with wins over Trent University, SUNY Potsdam, West Virginia University Institute of Technology, and Union College (Ky.) before heading to the NECC Playoffs Navigators Division of R6.
Despite falling 2-1 in the playoffs, the Cougars finished their first season with an overall record of 5-1.
Overwatch Season
The Cougars got back to work in February with the start of Overwatch play in the Overwatch NECC Navigators Division Heartland A where they fell 3-0 to Coe College. A four game win streak would come next as they downed Buena Vista University (3-0), Green Bay (3-2), University of Northern Iowa (3-0), and Bradley University (3-0) before falling to Morningside University (Iowa) in the regular season finale. Closing out the regular season with a 4-2 record would give the Cougars enough edge to secure their spot in the NECC Playoffs where their opening round game would be against Highland Community College (Ill.). In a battle of the Cougars, CUC would take down HCC 3-1 and move onto the next round of playoffs. The Cougars would then square off against Coe College, CUC's only loss on the season, and fall once again 3-0. During the double-elimination tournament, the Cougars would fall to University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4-0 to close out the season.
Statistical Leaders
Top Players
- Eduardo Hinds: 360 Eliminations, 210 Deaths, 201 Assists
- Luis Cortes: 300 Eliminations, 200 Deaths, 189 Assists
- Said Morales: 324 Eliminations, 184 Deaths, 176 Assists
- Ryan Murray: 212 Eliminations, 220 Deaths, 356 Assists
- Andrew Kuhnau: 250 Eliminations, 230 Deaths, 300 Assists
Graduating Seniors
"Our two seniors, Eduardo and Michael, I think, were very impactful for my newer students," Coach Mol noted. "R6 was freshmen and Michael filling out the roles we needed him to fill. He did the best he could even if his level of play wasn't the highest. They did their best with limited practice and got their team to a 6-0 regular season. Eduardo was as much as a team captain I could hope for in Overwatch. As the only tank player on the team, he would call the shots in the game and led practices with me. Always wanted to see his teammates improve and do the best they could!"
What's To Come
"Next year I want our focus on growth and improvement of our mindset," Coach Mol noted. "I think we struggled whenever seeing an opposing team with higher ranks than our own. It weighed down on us in the game and caused issues here and there. I want us to be the best we can in and out of the game. I really want to help these students become leaders in game and out of game. For next year I think we need to tackle more consistency in practice and in game. We had a month where we didn't lose or have struggles in matches. But, after spring break we couldn't develop or find that spark again that we had."
Coverage and content in the offseason can be found at cucougars.com as well as on X @CUCEsports.
