In a match that was the regular season finale for both teams and one that determined the East Coast Conference's Regular Season Championship, it was New York Tech that came out on top, as they defeated the College of Staten Island tonight in Overwatch, 3-0. Finishing a perfect 8-0, NYIT will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming ECC Playoffs next week, while CSI fell to 6-2 and will fall anywhere from Nos. 2-3 in the standings, depending on the results of other matches.
Although they came in with high hopes, CSI's plans were foiled by the Bears, who were great in every round. Things started in the game mode of Control on the Ilios map. NYIT got off to a huge lead in the opening round and CSI was unable to contest for long, as the Bears took a 100-0 percentage win. In the second round, CSI was sharper, building an early lead, but NYIT took advantage after a delay due to connectivity problems and managed to take a 100-36 win to take a 1-0 win overall in the match.
NYIT's momentum carried over into the Assault round as well on the map of Hanamura. CSI was on the attack first, and they were able to take both control points on the attack, scoring two points with 2:44 remaining on the clock. Despite the impressive performance, NYIT was ready on its end of attack as well, as they took their opening point with great quickness and then followed with the taking of Point B with 4:43 to go. With the score at 2-2, CSI was first to attack with two minutes on the clock. In that time, CSI could not get past NYIT's defense and CSI was unable to score. That meant CSI had to prevent NYIT from scoring in over four minutes, and they could not do it, as the Bears were able to capture Point A in just under 30 seconds to take a 3-2 win in the round, and a 2-0 lead overall.
The final match was in Hybrid and in the Kings Row map. CSI attacked first and were able to score a single point, escorting the payload a little over 94 meters. That meant if NYIT could outdo the Dolphins on their attacking turn, they would win. CSI contested well defensively, but NYIT was indeed able to cross the payload further with plenty of time to spare, taking the 2-1 win in the round, and a 3-0 win overall.
With both teams having already clinched the playoffs going in, the match meant more in terms of seeding in the four-team tournament next week. NYIT (8-0) will be the top seed. CSI (6-2), will have to await results in other matches to find out what seed they will be. If Molloy College wins their final match (against Mercy College), CSI will finish in second place, and will play Molloy College next week in the ECC Semifinals. If Molloy loses and Southern New Hampshire wins their final match (against Hood), CSI will finish third, and will play SNHU in the first round. If both Molloy and SNHU win, CSI will finish second and will play Molloy in the first round.
