The Mount St. Mary’s Esports team recently made history by winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships (MAAC) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Mountaineers had always played their matches inside their high-tech gaming computers, but the pandemic restrictions being lifted meant that the team could finally go to a local area network (LAN) party to face their opponents face-to-face. The Mount swept through the MAAC title in Overwatch 2, and the win earned them a trip to the national-level Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup, which will be held in Texas in May.
The Overwatch squad team didn’t lose a single map of the first-person shooter game in MAAC Championship, which pits teams in a five-on-five, best-of-five format. Sophomore Brady Klodaski was the league’s MVP, and he paced the Mount to a win over three-time defending conference champion Marist in the final. The team found motivation with the announcement and release of Overwatch 2 last October, which allowed for a refresh and a change from six-on-six to five-on-five, allowing for the team to develop new strategies.
Michael Hansen, the coach of the Overwatch squad, said he didn’t have to do much in-game coaching. Rather, he primarily managed the team’s mentality, making sure no one fell out of love with the game and kept up a good life balance. The club quickly found motivation with the announcement and release of Overwatch 2 last October. Most of the team had gotten burnt out on the original Overwatch, which released in 2016, due to overplay. The Mount went unbeaten in MAAC play to earn the top seed entering the conference tournament, taking hold of one of the country’s more robust college Esports leagues.
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