CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College esports team was back in action on Tuesday afternoon in the NJCAAe semifinals against University of South Carolina – Sumter Fire Ants with a spot in Wednesday's championship match on the line. Every game of the eventual 2-1 defeat came down to the wire as the season ended for the third ranked Golden Eagles.
"I'm super proud of what they accomplished this season," Head Coach Cindy Benites said. "This is only their second semester playing (Siege), so the fact that they were able to make it to the semi-finals is just a testament to their abilities and their chemistry working together."
The Golden Eagles cruised to an opening round win with a strong push to take the early lead but USC-Sumter pushed back in round two to even the opening game at 1-1. LCCC kept ahead in the third round with a quick defuser plant by Kiara Kershaw and Diego Frometa-Batezini was big on the attack with six kills in the first three games to help the cause.
The Fire Ants took the next two rounds of defense to go up 3-2 in the game, but LCCC was able to finish off the split with a win in the sixth round to take up the attack with a 3-3 tie with Frometa-Batezini continuing his strong match with nine kills through the midway point.
USC Sumter was back in front after taking the opening round of their attack with a quick defuser plant but LCCC didn't panic and the Golden Eagles rallied back to take the next two in a match that continued to be neck and neck.
The Fire Ants picked up back to back wins in the next two rounds to get the first match point and while LCCC put a strong push in to force the overtime period, it was USC-Sumter who finished off the third win in a row to take the opening game 7-5.
Frometa-Batezini was on fire in the game to lead LCCC with 16 kills and it was Elias Platt with nine and Kershaw with eight with strong matches to help the cause.
The game moved to the Chalet map which was one of the better maps for the Golden Eagles. They were able to keep things even in the first two rounds as the match continued to be a see-saw battle as Kershaw lead the early charge with five kills in the opening rounds.
Both sides traded the next two rounds to keep the game even at 2-2 but the LCCC attack struggled to pick up momentum as they dropped the next two and went to defense down 4-2.
Defense started out great for LCCC as they picked up a win in the opening round to close the gap back to 4-3 with the win and followed it up to even the game at four with Frometa-Batezini holding a pair of Fire Ants at the end to earn the win.
Laramie County nearly had a perfect run in the ninth round to go up for the first time in the game 5-4 an USC Sumter took a time out to gather their thoughts. They came out and picked up the quick win in the tenth game but LCCC responded for their first game point with a win in round eleven and they finished it off with a clutch win in the 12th to take it 7-5 and even the match at one in the best of three.
Kershaw wrapped up the round with a team high 19 kills and Frometa-Batezini added 16 and no Golden Eagle had less than five kills in the win to force a final map.
"Them taking the time to rally and not harp on the match in it's entirety, especially coming out with a loss in the first one, but learning from their mistakes, talking about it, getting some fresh air and some new strategies going in, I think that's what led them to have such a close second round," Benites said of the team's ability to stay calm under pressure.
The match moved to the Skyscraper map and the trend of early round trades continued with both teams trading rounds and the Golden Eagles went to the defensive tied 3-3.
The Fire Ants picked up a pair of big wins in the opening attacks for USC Sumter as they took early control of the map 5-3 but a strong rally for LCCC earned them a pair of wins to close it back to 5-5 and followed it with a nearly perfect run on the 11th map to go up 6-5 and earn a match point.
USC Sumter was able to force overtime with a big win in the 12th and the two teams went to a best of three format to finish the round with the first team to reach eight winning the match.
Both teams won their attack phases to force a winner take all 15th round and the Fire Ants used a patient attack in the deciding round to take the game and eliminate the Golden Eagles from the postseason.
Laramie County saw three of their team finishes with double digit kills in the loss with Kershaw tallying a team high 16 with help from Frometa-Batezini with 13 and Platt adding 11 more. Benites said the addition of the latter two during the middle of the season was a game changer.
"At first they just wanted to be subs but throughout the season they continued to be top players so they added to our whole dynamic. I'm proud of what they have done and them being able to help Kiara, Mason, and JC."
Frometa-Batezini was the standout of the match as the only player to tally double digits in every game, finishing the night with 45 kills for the team in the effort.
The team has mostly freshman on the roster and Benites thinks they will be stronger for the way this season concluded.
"There's a ton of momentum," she said. "They are hungrier to get to that national championship game, so they will just learn from their mistake and know there is another opportunity next semester and if they continue to practice I think we have a good chance."