CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College Call of Duty: Vanguard team opened postseason play with a quarterfinal match against WVU Potomac State College on Monday afternoon in their fourth game against the Catamounts since the preseason, and for the first time it was Potomac State earning the win 3-1.
The matchup was between the four and five seeds in the invitational bracket, and proved to be just as competitive as the seeding would advertise, and Head Coach Cindy Benites said the team played admirably despite the final result.
“The team played great today,” she said. “They were always so close to getting the win in each match. These are tough teams in the invitational so they were up against the best.”
Things got off to a slow start for the Golden Eagles after falling behind by over 100 points in the opening round of Hardpoint. The team was able to rally to take the lead late, but couldn’t get enough points to hold it as a late run by Potomac State gave them the 250-239 win.
The Catamounts used that momentum to take the first two rounds of Search and Destroy, using a come and get us strategy, but after an adjustment, LCCC rallied to even the game at 2-2. The seesaw battle continued with the next three rounds going to the Catamounts.
With their backs against the wall, LCCC would pick up three of their own wins to bring it to match point at 5-5 and again would have their comeback trimmed short as the Catamounts held off the Golden Eagles 6-5 to go up 2-0 in the match!
The game turned to a round of Control, and Laramie County was able to take command of the map after a 1-1 draw through the first to rounds in Berlin to close out the round 3-1 and stay alive down 2-1 in the game.
In a return to Hardpoint, the Golden Eagles were able to slow down the Catamounts and kept the game close, but unfortunately time ran out on their comeback attempt and they fell 195-120 in the final round.
Laramie County was led through the match by standouts Andrew Santhuff and Isiaha Ahrens. Santhuff finished with 116 kills to just 79 deaths while Ahrens was just as good with 115 kills and 86 deaths.
“Isiaha and Andy have made a huge impact on the team,” Benites said. “Andy has especially stepped his game up and shown me that he cares about the game and hates to lose. He is itching for a championship next spring and the team will be out for revenge.”
The Golden Eagles will look forward to the Spring with a chance to once again qualify for the invitational season and look to build on back-to-back trips to the postseason, but there will be a new look to the team with some expected changes with new faces added on from recruiting.
“The Spring season will be tricky,” Benites said. “Esports has become more and more popular and students are looking to join the team. I am excited for what is in store this next season.”
The Golden Eagles still have four teams competing in postseason play and will be in action again on Wednesday when the Call of Duty: Warzone team and Michael Sones of Super Smash Bros Ultimate get going in their first action of the playoffs in their respective games. Full schedules are available online at www.golccc.com.