In a dominating fashion, the University of New Haven's esports teams took over the playoff scene, playing their hearts out in an attempt to bring home a Championship trophy. In the end, four of our teams took 1st place across various leagues, ending the season in an extremely emotional way.

Apex Legends

Our Apex Legends team has come a great way in the last two months of playtime. Whether it be scrimming, running it down on ranks, or their actual matches, their improvement has been amazing. Their team is led by Captains Amanda Plantier (Montville, CT/Montville High School) (FlightTheSewerDemon) and Ayden Schulz (Bedford, NH/Bedford High School) (The10th_Doctor_). In the end, their team finished in 28th place in the Octane Collegiate playoffs.

League of Legends

The University of New Haven's Varsity League of Legends team, although a fairly new roster, managed to come 1st place in the Eastern Collegiate Conference finals! Faced up against St. Joseph's University of Long Island, UNewHaven's LoL team won the series in an undefeated fashion, winning 3-0.

The roster includes Captain and ADC player Kiril Samiahulin (Babryusk, Belarus/Cheshire High School) (RealPants), Top player Christopher Cardenas (Waterford, CT/Waterford High School) (Delta), Jungle player Maximus Italia (East Hartford/East Catholic High School) (Victory), Mid player Brandon Horton (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull High School) (Jayce Bond), and Support player Richard Gauthier (Eagle River, AK/Ramona High School) (Grimm). 

Captain Samiahulin is in his final year studying Forensic Chemistry, hoping to receive his postgraduate degree elsewhere. Cardenas, also a Forensic Science major, came back to UNewHaven for his graduate studies. Horton, the final veteran player, is currently a junior studying Cybersecurity. Italia is a junior as well; however, he is studying Forensic Science instead. Gauthier is a freshman pursuing his Bachelor's in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Marvel Rivals

Both of our Junior Varsity and Varsity Marvel Rivals had an incredible fall semester in the NECC, both during regular seasons and playoffs. Our Junior Varsity team, headed by Dixon McDonald (Baltimore, MD/Bedford High School) (HulkZucchini), placed 5th, losing to the University of Georgia on the last map. Our Varsity team, led by Skyler Johnson (Honolulu, HI/Creighton University) (Honolulu, HI/Creighton University) (Skylarkman), eventually fell in the Losers Semifinals to Winthrop University.

Rocket League

Our Rocket League team has had an incredible season across all three leagues, even succeeding in bringing home a Championship trophy from the NACE Varsity Plus League, defeating Point Park University in an undefeated 3-0. In NECC and ECC, they finished 6th and 3rd, respectively, having a great season all around with near-constant matches and practices.

Their roster is made up of Captain Glenn Scott (Belchertown, MA/Belchertown High School) (Auryx), Declan McGrellis (Frederica, DE/Lake Forest High School) (PunkinLad), and Alexander O'Neal (Woodbury, NJ/Woodbury Junior-Senior High School) (Ace). 

O'Neal is a new addition to the Rocket League team as a freshman studying Mechanical Engineering. Scott, a returning Captain to the program, is currently a senior studying Cyber Threat Intelligence and Financial Crimes. McGrellis, another Rocket League team veteran, is also in his final year, studying Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Super Smash Bros

Similar to our Rocket League team, our Varsity Super Smash Bros team participated in three different leagues, taking podium places in each. In the NECC league, they placed 3rd overall, while in NACE and ECC, they placed 2nd. The SSBU team is led by veteran Captains Alex Fishler (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle High School) (Deception) and Logan Starr (New Fairfield, CT/Ridgefield High School) (Fart), who recently returned from a semester abroad at our Prato, Italy campus, where they occasionally took part in the Italian Smash Bros scene.

Street Fighter 6

In its first semester of being a team, Street Fighter 6 had an incredible semester for the University of New Haven. Captain Vincent Troy (Philadelphia, PA/Dover High School) (Bigman) participated in the Division 2 Playoffs for the Collegiate Fighting Games Conference, going undefeated with a 5-0 record and winning Grand Finals, taking home a trophy!

Troy is a current sophomore at the University of New Haven, studying Game Design and Interactive Media while also being a starting player on the Junior Varsity Overwatch 2 roster.

Overwatch 2

Our Junior Varsity Overwatch 2 team has always been extremely energetic, ready to rise up to the challenge. Although they lost in the ECC Semi-Finals, they never let that stop them, always looking forward to the next match. And with that energy, they dominated the NECC Playoffs bracket, making it all the way to the Grand Finals. And when they went up against the University of Mary-Washington, nothing could get in their way. They defeated UMW quickly in a 4-0 fashion, securing the Division 6 trophy for UNewHaven!

They are led by veteran Captain and starting tank player Talon Wilterdink (Cedarburg, WI/Random Lake High School) (Jollification), a junior student studying Esports and Digital Game Management. Their two primary DPS are Vincent Troy (Philadelphia, PA/Dover High School) (Bigman) and Dylan Novicio (Shelton, CT/Emmett O'Brien Technical High School) (Dyne), who is a sophomore studying Computer Science. The substitute DPS player is Nick DellaGrotte (Middletown, CT/Middletown High School) (Denizen), a graduate student working towards his degree in Cybersecurity, while also being the esports program's main IT worker. The current starting support players for JV are Daniel Novak (Branchburg NJ/Somerville High School) (SlasherX47), a junior, and Axel Salmoiraghi (Manchester, CT/East Catholic High School) (Dynamic), a freshman, both studying Cybersecurity. The substitute support player is Aaron Richard (Sandy Hook, CT/Newtown High School) (Undertaker), a sophomore Psychology major.

UNewHaven's Varsity Overwatch 2 roster came 2nd in ECC Finals against the same team that took out our Junior Varsity team. However, after qualifying for the Grand Finals in NECC, all of their time and resources went towards practicing for that final match against Endicott College. Varsity had faced Endicott earlier in the season and lost 1-3, so it would be quite the grudge match. The match was tense and exhilarating as teams traded maps back and forth, eventually going to map 7. Varsity prevailed, taking out Endicott, ending the series 4-3, and taking home the Champions of Division 3 title.

The Varsity team is led by long-time esports member and Captain Josh Raynor (Jraynor196), who currently studies Esports and Digital Game Management as a senior, and is one of the starting DPS players for Varsity. Ali Al-Mohanadi (Doha, Qatar/Ibn Taymiyyah Independent Secondary School for Boys) (Despair), a senior studying Forensic Science, and Christopher Iacobucci (Stratford, CT/Stratford High School) (Blackout402), a sophomore studying Business Management, are the other DPS players. Their starting tank player is Nicholas Lever (North Caldwell, NJ/West Essex High School) (BigWarrior), a sophomore majoring in Esports Management. The Varsity support line is comprised of Skyler Johnson (Honolulu, HI/Creighton University) (Honolulu, HI/Creighton University) (Skylarkman) and Prince Patel (North Grosvenordale, CT/Tourtellotte Memorial High School) (Night), both graduate students studying Industrial and Organizational Psychology, as well as junior Forensic Science student Connor Monclova (East Northport, NY/John Glenn High School) (Monclover).
Every team, whether or not they qualified for the playoffs, did an incredible job. New teams and old teams, veteran players and brand-new players, all of them came together, put in the work, and got results far beyond what they expected.

We truly look forward to seeing what these teams do next semester! If you are interested in joining the Varsity Esports Program, reach out to our Director, Rob Holub (rholub@newhaven.edu) or on our Social Media Platforms (Instagram: unhavenesports).