CSI ESPORTS SEASON RECAP & PLAYOFF PREVIEW

4/3/2023 11:43:00 AM

The Spring 2023 ECC and ECAC regular seasons for CSI Esports have ended and now most of the teams that competed this semester have their eyes focused on the postseason. With the week off after the conclusion of the regular season, the first-round playoff matchups are now set for this upcoming week as teams look to compete for various accolades, championships and more! We will also recap each season and provide you with a playoff preview for both the ECC and the ECAC and what is at stake for the remainder of the Spring 2023 semester. ECC Grand Finals will be held in person for the first time at Brooklan, in Brooklyn, NY on Saturday, April 22, 2023 and the teams are very excited about the opportunity to compete in an in-person championship event if they can make it through some challenging competition in the playoffs. The ECC is a partner with the CECC (Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup) with the ECC Champion receiving an invitation to the CECC to compete for a national championship in May 2023.

ECC/ECAC - Rocket League

Roster: Daniel Manelis, Ralphy Vargas, Samuel Rozenfeld, Maxim Kleyer, Derek Espejo, Francesco Abbatemarco

Our Rocket League team played up to their expectations as they finished off the ECAC with a 7-1 record and the ECC with a 5-1 record. This team had the only blemish on their ECAC record caom at the hands of Siena Heights University with a 4-3 series loss as the team tried to come back from a 3-0 deficit as they forced a deciding Game 7 in an epic series that saw CSI fall just short of landing a top 15 ECAC playoff seed. As a result, CSI grabbed the #24 seed and will play #41 seed Drew University, who they played in Week 1 and won by a score of 4-1. Meanwhile in the ECC regular season finale, CSI took the fight to the undefeated Farmingdale State Rams with a 3-1 series win. This created a 3-way tie atop the ECC standings with Farmingdale State and NYIT, with CSI ending up the third seed due to strength of schedule and wins. CSi will look to defend their ECC Championship as they will take on Utica University in the first round, who they defeated in Week 4 of the regular season by a score of 3-0.Team Captain Samuel Rozenfeld told us, "Our win over Farmingdale State was pretty significant and we feel great about it because they are one of the top teams in the league and are likely to be our opponents if we make it to the finals." He also told us about how they are preparing for playoffs in which he added, "In preparation for playoffs, we are continuing our scrim schedule and will be taking advantage of the upcoming spring break to practice more given our availability. We will also be moving forward to play with our main roster from here on out. We are super grateful to our entire roster for helping us out when needed this season and putting up great performances throughout the regular season, but now it's time to put our eyes on the prize and look towards another ECC championship and a spot at nationals." CSI will also be competing in a Last Chance Qualifier tournament this week for another opportunity to play in nationals against some nationally ranked competition.

This Week's Schedule:
ECC Quarterfinal: #3 CSI vs. #6 Utica University - 4/3/23 @ 8:00PM EST
CECC LCQ: #13 CSI vs. #4 Michigan Tech – 4/4/23 @7:30PM EST
ECAC First Round: #24 CSI vs. #41 Drew University - 4/5/23 @ 8:00PM EST

ECAC - Hearthstone

Hearthstone, a new game in the CSI Esports portfolio, is a fast-paced turn-based strategy card game between two opponents. In his debut season for the College of Staten Island, Matthew Taylor has finished his season with an overall record of 4-4 and qualified for the ECAC playoffs as the #20 seed where he will do battle with Christopher Diers of Siena Heights University. Matthew suffered a 0-3 loss in the last regular season game but with good reason as he was practicing with 3 new card decks to mix up his game for the playoffs. When asked how he was going to prepare for the playoffs, Taylor explained to us, "I am going to use my previous Hearthstone experience and my connections with top Hearthstone players to prepare for next week's matchup, as well as reviewing footage from the NACE championship. I am hoping to practice with the top players from that collegiate conference to make sure I'm at the top of my game".

This Week's Schedule: ECAC First Round: #20 CSI vs. #13 Siena Heights University – 4/6/23 @ 8:00PM EST

ECC – Valorant

Roster: Chris Andrews, Sandy Ramsy, Jake Myers, Jacob Wells, Basel Alkeswani, Mohamed Dawoud, Valon Bajro

Our Valorant team had an up and down season but finished off strong bringing their overall record to 4-3 and clinching the #5 spot in the ECC playoffs. In the last game of the season, CSI ruined Utica's chances of securing a #1 seed for the playoffs by putting on a dominating performance with a 2-0 series win. The team's synergy was on point and looked the best they have all season, with multiple 25+ kills games from Andrews. "I think this is the perfect time for us as a team to feel confident and play well with each other to put up a performance like we did against Utica. They were a good team and to come out and shut them out like that is very motivating" Team Captain Christopher Andrews noted after the game. As it turns out, CSI knocked Utica down to the #4 seed and now have a rematch against them in the quarterfinals of the ECC playoffs.

This Week's Schedule: ECC Quarterfinal: #5 CSI vs. #4 Utica University – 4/6/23 @ 8:00PM EST

ECC – Overwatch 2

Roster: Liam Pesce, Jaedan Bata, George Farag, Dylan Lee, Madison Lewis, Johnathan Russo, Gabriel Tamburri, Andrew Shnoda

The Overwatch 2 team had a fantastic season as some expected, fresh off clinching their first ever ECC Championship in the Fall 2022 semester, finishing with an overall record of 5-1 in the Spring 2023 season. They capped off the season with a 3-0 series win against Molloy University where Team Captain Andrew Shnoda had this to say, "Molloy is a very formidable team. We enjoy competing against teams that are similar to us and are always about promoting good sportsmanship." When asked about their preparations for playoffs, Shnoda said, "We are already doing in school sessions to talk about strategies, compositions and how we are going to tackle the playoffs in general. We are also already working on how we can improve as a team and get back to the finals and defend our title." CSI just missed the #1 seed in the playoffs with an unfortunate forfeit to SNHU earlier in the season and will now have to win their semifinal matchup against #3 seed NYIT to see how they stack up against the #1 seed SNHU if both teams can make it to the ECC Grand Finals. CSI defeated NYIT in the final game of the regular season by a score of 3-0.

This Week's Schedule: ECC Semifinal: #2 CSI vs. #3 NYIT – 4/7/23 @ 8:00PM EST

ECC – League of Legends

Roster: Columbus Enslen, Ainsley Hyland, Nicholas Michelizzi, Vitaliy Pankov, Josh Allen Trayvilla, Arielle Uy, Jordan Valmonte, Edison Zhong
Our League of Legends team finished off the regular season with an overall record of 2-5 and did not clinch a spot in the ECC playoffs. They got off to a slow start in the Spring 2023 season, but they did manage to pick up wins over Utica and D'Youville along the way. Luckily for the team, hope springs anew with their registration in the postseason Teemo Cup! CSI has been awarded the #2 seed and will take on #15 seed Utah Valley University in the Second Round. Team Captain Arielle Uy spoke highly of the team and believes that their consistency and dedication to playing the game and playing with each other will help them play well in the Teemo Cup and in the upcoming Fall 2023 season.

This Week's Matchup: Teemo Cup B - Second Round: #2 CSI vs. #15 Utah Valley University – 4/8/23 – 4:00 PM

Follow CSIEsports on Twitter @csiesports for the latest information and check out some of this week's Rocket League and Valorant action live over on Twitch at twitch.tv/csiesports. Go Dolphins!

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