CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College Call of Duty: Warzone 2 duo opened postseason play on Thursday afternoon with a 3-0 match win against Northland Community and Technical College in the opening round before taking down #6 Hutchinson Community College in the quarterfinals 3-2.
"I couldn't be more proud of them," Head Coach Cindy Benites said. "You can see the way they talk to each other through the game, just feeding off of each others energy. It's that spirit of them knowing that they have each others back that continues to take them to the next level."
Round one against the Pioneers of NCTC started with a strong push from both as the teamed up for nine kills in the opening minutes. Santhuff ended up in the Gulag at ten team kills but it didn't slow down the assault as he was able to win his one-on-one and returned to the main map quickly.
Laramie County was the last alive as Dimitrios Chronopoulos was the final man on the map for the game and the Golden Eagles had again tallied 18 kills to clinch the win, eventually finishing the map off with a n 18-2 win for the opening round win.
D.C. topped the team with 11 as an individual and Andrew Santhuff was just behind him with seven.
The second match started out closer with the two teams both being sent to the Gulag and the Golden Eagles holding a 3-2 lead early and after early deaths the team was able to finish off the win 4-2 to go up 2-0 in the match.
Both of the Golden Eagles finished with two kills each in the quick win.
In the final match of the first round with Northland, the Laramie County attack was strong again with a 5-2 lead but both of them were eliminated early leaving an opportunity for Northland to take the third game.
The Pioneers couldn't pick up the three kills they needed and fell to LCCC 5-4 in the round and 3-0 in the game.
"That was wraps," Chronopoulos said confidently afterwords. "It felt like a practice on the level we are supposed to compete so it was good for a warmup."
That set up a match with the Hutchinson Community College Dragons in the quarterfinals and it started out rough with a quick death for Chronopoulos on the drop in. Santhuff was sent to the Gulag as well and was able to survive the trip to keep the teams hopes alive as he was able to buy his teammate back in only down 5-1.
Another pair of early kills afterwords gave Hutchinson the win 6-2.
"They continue to surprise me every match," Benites said about the heart the team showed after the loss. "Of course I had a little bit more anxiety but they continue to strive for better and they continue to put practice in and continue to get better."
The second round saw the Dragons earn the early lead but LCCC was able to reclaim the lead after a quick two kills by Santhuff. The two sides traded one kill leads through the middle of the match and the match would be tied at eight with Laramie County holding a man advantage on the map.
Both teams would stay close but a run of kills by Chronopoulos put the Golden Eagles up two and they would hold that edge to take the round 13-11.
D.C. was the top man in the group with seven kills with six from Santhuff as they forced it to a best of three for the spot in the semifinals.
The third game kept the run of three's going with the two squads tied at three through the opening minutes but it would be LCCC breaking away with three big kills to get some breathing room.
They kept the lead after Santhuff kept them ahead with a two-kill edge at 9-7 as the match went to a one-on-one for a time but after Hutch tied the match at nine late but a mistake by the Dragons brought Chronopoulos back and he picked up three kills to close it out 12-9.
He would lead the match for the Golden Eagles with eight kills and Santhuff added another four as LCCC picked up the 2-1 lead.
The Dragons came out with a vengeance in the fourth round and took a strong 8-3 lead in the early moments of the match and they kept the pace up to go up 11-5. The high scoring pace continued with both teams picking up double digits but Hutch still holding a 16-11 lead and the lead built to seven at 19-12.
A mad charge by LCCC nearly brought them back but Hutch was able to force a fifth game with a 19-18 win.
DC's 10 kills paired well with Santhuff's eight but a 12-kill game by one of the Dragons was enough for the edge.
In the fifth round, the Golden Eagles started off with four kills, three coming from Santhuff. The teams would stay within two kills for the majority of the match with the Dragons taking the late lead as they were eliminated with an 11-10 edge. Santhuff was able to stay alive through the final moments to pick up three straight kills and give LCCC the round win 13-11 and the match win 3-2.
"I was a little stressed but not that much because I believe in myself and of course I believe in Andy," Chronopoulos said. "That's why we had two or three clutch moments including the last one to win the game. During the game I didn't have much time to really think about my feelings and in between games we just locked in. It's a game, we did our best, and we won against a great team."
The win moves the team into the semi-finals where they will have a rematch with Catawba Valley Community College on Wednesday, April 19th at 5:00 pm and both Golden Eagles are focused on being as prepared as possible for any situation.
"We have a week so we can really work on our stuff because there is also a bit of luck involved," Chronopoulos said of the upcoming game. "Some items may come your way, some may not but we will try to expand on our abilities and skills so we can win."