As December 5th grew closer and closer, tensions within the Stable ramped up. With most teams having been eliminated from the playoffs, the University of New Haven only had a few more chances to pull through and secure a championship trophy. After winning their semi-finals match, propelling them into the Grand Finals, the Varsity Overwatch 2 team practiced almost daily, testing new team compositions and working with Spacestation Gaming Coach ChrisTFer and former TSM Coach Capitology.

The Roster

This roster in particular has plenty of history with esports, both in their solo careers and together as a team. They've been working together for over a year now, mainly focusing on Overwatch 2 but also looking to conquer other games as well.

Captain Joshua Raynor (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow High School) is known as one of the Stable's loyal veteran members, having been a part of the esports program for many years, primarily as a member of the Overwatch 2 roster. However, he has also been a member of the Super Smash Bros, APEX Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Marvel Rivals, and Rainbow 6 Siege teams across his career. Raynor is one of the DPS players for the team, primarily playing Junkrat, Reaper, and Torbjorn. He is currently a senior at the University of New Haven, graduating next semester with a degree in Esports and Digital Game Management.

The in-game leader for the team is sophomore Tank player Nicholas Lever (North Caldwell, NJ/West Essex High School). When he first showed up to tryouts, Lever immediately made a name for himself, consistently placing in the Top 500 players in North America for his role. He plays a variety of tanks for the varsity team, but most commonly Ramattra, Hazard, and Orisa. Alongside Raynor, Lever was also a member of the Marvel Rivals team and previously the Super Smash Bros team. He is currently majoring in Esports Management and looking to further his career.

Ali Al-Mohanadi (Doha, Qatar/Ibn Taymiyyah Independent Secondary School for Boys) is another remarkable player, originally hailing from Doha, Qatar, and is one of the only international students in the esports program. He is a DPS player for the Overwatch 2 team while also playing for the Marvel Rivals team. Al-Mohanadi mainly plays Tracer, Sojourn, and Freja, but has a variety of the cast under his belt. Pursuing a degree in Forensic Science, this was his last semester with us as he transfers to Indiana Tech, and we wish him the best of luck.

Christopher Iacobucci (Stratford, CT/Stratford High School) finalizes the DPS lineup for the varsity team, and his energy is completely infectious, always ready to bring the hype to each and every match across all games. He often plays Genji, Sojourn, and Hanzo. Like the rest of his team, Iacobucci played for New Haven's Marvel Rivals team this past year. Currently a sophomore, he looks forward to a strong future with the esports program while continuing his degree in Business Management. 

Skyler Johnson (Honolulu, HI/Creighton University), a graduate student studying Industrial and Organizational Psychology, is one of the starting support players for the team. Johnson plays many of the cast, but primarily Kiriko, Brigitte, and Wuyang. An experienced esports player of many years, he also spent this last semester as the Captain of the Marvel Rivals team, helping guide them to the playoffs, as well as a member of the Super Smash Bros team. Despite the immense successes they've had, this was Johnson's last semester playing esports. We wish him the best of luck and look forward to his coaching and assistance during his last semester at the university.

The other starting support for the varsity team is fellow graduate student Prince Patel (North Grosvenordale, CT/Tourtellotte Memorial High School), who is also pursuing his degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Patel has been a flex player for the team, using his skills as both a DPS and support player, although his focus is support, mostly playing Ana, Kiriko, and Lucio. He is also a flex player for the Marvel Rivals team. Patel looks forward to finishing his last semester of studies while continuing to play for the program.

The final member of the team is main support player Connor Monclova (East Northport, NY/John Glenn High School), who is well-known in the program for his Lucio expertise. Although he also plays Wuyang and Zenyatta, he primarily plays Lucio for the team. He has been playing Overwatch since around the time it first released and has been honing his talent since. Monclova was also one of the support players for the Marvel Rivals team. Currently, he is a junior pursuing his degree in Forensic Science.

Season History

Our varsity Chargers had a very successful season over the Fall semester. After being placed in Division 3 in the NECC, they almost went undefeated during the regular season, ending with a 6-1 record. They won against Penn State University (3-1), Lesley University (3-0), Robert Morris University (3-1), University of Connecticut (3-0), Marist University (3-0), and Université de Sherbrooke (3-1). The only team they lost to was Endicott College (1-3), placing 2nd overall for the regular season.

This strong finish allowed New Haven to qualify for the playoff tournament soon after. Their first opponent in this single-elimination tournament was the University of Alabama Huntsville, who they beat 3-1. After that, they faced the University of North Carolina Charlotte, a formidable opponent that gave the varsity team a run for their money. In a close match, our Chargers came out on top, winning 3-1.

And then it was finals. Against the only team that had even beaten New Haven this semester: Endicott College.

Grand Finals

Map 1 of the series started out on Lijiang Tower in China, which is well-known as the most popular map for Control. This is a gamemode where the two teams fight over an objective, or point, in a king-of-the-hill format. It is a best-of-three, so the first team to capture two objectives wins.

On the first point, New Haven rolled out an interesting comp. Lever was on Ramattra, Al-Mohanadi on Freja, and Johnson on Kiriko, which was all normal. The interesting part was Raynor on Mei and Patel on Lucio. Although both players had experience with those characters, running them in a competitive composition was a different story. Although Endicott had a similar backline, their frontline consisted of a Junker Queen, Sojourn, and Tracer. Both teams immediately began fighting for control over White Room, and subsequently, the point. Endicott got the first kill on New Haven and managed to take out the rest of the team and take the point. Both teams continued to fight for the objective, but Endicott was first to get to 100% and take the first point.

Going into the second point, both teams kept their composition the same, rushing out of spawn and fighting for control over the bridge. Endicott reached it first, dominating the contested territory and shoving New Haven back to their spawn area. Endicott was once again first to capture the point. New Haven attempted to make a push, but they were quickly shut down. However, once they regrouped and respawned, they took the point to finally put themselves on the board. New Haven looked to take space on the bridge, preventing a push from Endicott. However, an excellent shot from Endicott's Kiriko took out Raynor, and it was enough of a distraction to allow them to flank from the other side. Multiple ultimate abilities (Kitsune, Blizzard, Overclock) came out from both sides, but Endicott did manage to take back the point. New Haven attempted one last push, but they were shut down once more. Patel attempted to take advantage of Endicott pushing up, getting a touch on point, but it was unfortunately not enough, allowing Endicott to secure that second point to win match 1 of the series.

Since they lost, New Haven had the choice of the next gamemode and map, for which they then chose Hollywood, a Hybrid map. This gamemode is often described as a mix between Control and Escort, where first the attackers must capture the point and then escort the cart, or payload, to the other end of the map, or as far as they can before time runs out. After that, the attackers and defenders switch sides. The team that makes it furthest wins. 

New Haven chose to defend first, changing up their team composition. Raynor swapped onto Tracer, hoping to give Endicott's backline some issues, while Johnson and Patel swapped to Wuyang and Ana, respectively. Endicott also made some changes to their composition, deciding to run Zarya, Mei, Widowmaker, Ana, and Lucio. New Haven held the point for about a minute, but Endicott managed to pick them off one by one, giving them enough space to allow them to capture the point and unlock the payload. New Haven was forced to back up so they wouldn't get staggered, but not enough to where Endicott would have free space around the map. Even when it looked like New Haven had the numbers advantage, Endicott would quickly turn the fight around by getting some picks of their own. Endicott managed to finish the map with almost 4 minutes left, and both teams swapped sides. On their side, they swapped out the Widowmaker/Cassidy for an Ashe to start off, while New Haven kept their team composition for the time being. The varsity team tried various different plans and routes in order to make it to the point, but Endicott wouldn't budge or let up any space, even chasing staggered players back to their spawn room. Without ever being allowed to take any percentage of the point, Endicott managed to take game 2 of the series, bringing the score to 0-2.

Hoping to turn the series around, New Haven chose Rialto, an Escort map, for the 3rd game, and again started on defense. However, before the match started, they swapped out Raynor for Iacobucci, as well as completely changing their tank and DPS composition. While Patel and Johnson were still on Kiriko and Wuyang, the rest of the team included Lever on Hazard, Al-Mohanadi on Echo, and Iacobucci on Hanzo. Endicott also decided to change it up, running a team with D.VA, Widowmaker, Genji, Lucio, and Ana.

Right out of the gate, Endicott immediately tried to take space; however, with Al-Mohanadi on the flank, their push forward was a struggle. However, once New Haven's tank was picked off, they were forced to briefly retreat. Once they regrouped, the Ultimates (Kitsune Rush, Tidal Blast, Dragonstrike, Self-Destruct) came out from both sides, but Endicott won the fight, making it to the first checkpoint. They continued to dominate, easily taking the second checkpoint as well. With over three minutes left on the clock, New Haven knew they had to focus. They managed to waste about a minute and a half of Endicott's time before they eventually capped the final point, and both teams swapped sides. On the attack, New Haven initially struggled to gain any ground. However, after Iacobucci and Al-Mohanadi got kills on the Genji and D.VA, respectively, Endicott was forced to back up or be killed. All four support ultimates got used up during the next fight, but New Haven still managed to capture the first point. Fights kept being traded back and forth, with New Haven even being forced into overtime trying to get to the second point; however, they persevered and managed to complete the entire map with about 15 seconds left on the clock.

Since both teams made it to the third checkpoint, the match was forced into overtime. However, due to Endicott's dominating push in the first round, they had almost 3 minutes to force the payload to the end of the map, while New Haven only had a minute. Once again, Endicott swapped the Widowmaker for an Ashe, while New Haven swapped from Hazard to Zarya, and from Echo to Cassidy. Since New Haven had less time than Endicott, they would start an attack to try and push the payload as far as possible. Al-Mohanadi got the first kill, taking out Kiriko, forcing the other team to back up. In a dominating fashion, New Haven took out the rest of their opponents, capping the first checkpoint while the timer went into overtime. With a new fire in their hearts, New Haven didn't stop, knocking down Endicott each and every fight. In an incredible turnout, they made it all the way to the third checkpoint. If Endicott did not also make it to the end of the map, they would lose game 3. But even with three minutes left on the clock, it could prove to be a difficult task. Fights were closer than ever, with kills being traded constantly. Endicott made it to the second checkpoint as overtime began, but almost instantly, a beautiful combination of ultimates from New Haven took out the entire enemy team, securing them their first win of the series, making the score 1-2.

It was now Endicott's turn to choose the map: New Queen Street. NQS is a push map, which starts with a robot in the middle, and both teams are fighting to push it to their opponent's side of the map. Whoever pushed it all the way to the end (or the furthest if the timer runs out) would win the map.

Endicott started out with a composition almost identical to game 1, aside from a Wuyang instead of Lucio. New Haven worked with a combination of previous compositions, with Lever on Ramattra, Iacobucci on Genji, Al-Mohanadi on Sojourn, Patel on Kiriko, and Johnson on Wuyang. New Haven got the first kill on the match and took out the majority of Endicott in quick succession. Their remaining two team members backed up to not get staggered, allowing New Haven to secure a 30m lead on their opponents. Endicott quickly evened the playing field, but pushed too far. The match continued in a back-and-forth manner, with both teams fighting for as much territory as possible. Iacobucci quickly helped to take out the entirety of Endicott as he flanked behind with his ultimate (Dragonblade). New Haven continued to dominate the playing field, almost managing to push the robot all the way to Endicott's side before they took the payload back. In overtime, Endicott continued their possession of the robot, pushing far into New Haven's spawn before they were quickly stopped by Lever, getting New Haven their second win, bringing the score to 2-2.

With Endicott next to pick a map for Game 5, they decided to go with Watchpoint: Gibraltar, an escort map known for it being good for dive team compositions. New Haven started on defense with Lever on D.VA, Al-Mohanadi on Ashe, Iacobucci on Genji, Patel on Kiriko, and Johnson on Wuyang against a Widowmaker, Genji, Kiriko, Lucio, and a D.VA, bringing out a similar composition to previous games. Endicott quickly took out two of New Haven's players, forcing them to back up. Lever managed to take out their tank, evening the playing field, but it unfortunately wasn't enough. Endicott took out New Haven again and again, managing to push the payload past the second point. New Haven did manage to take back some ground, winning the next few fights, but Endicott still managed to make it to the third checkpoint. The teams switched sides with minimal composition changes. Al-Mohanadi swapped onto Tracer while their Ashe started out on Sojourn. However, due to immense pressure on their team from Endicott College, New Haven didn't even make it to the first checkpoint, losing game 5. The current score for the series was 2-3, making it match point for the enemy team.

New Haven knew that this match could potentially be the last one of the semester, so they needed to fight like their lives depended on it. Putting everything on the line, they chose Suravasa, a Flashpoint map. This gamemode was a mix of Control and Push, where teams fought to capture points across a map, and the first team to 3 points wins. 

New Haven returned back to their Zarya, Sojourn, Genji, Lucio, and Kiriko composition, with Endicott doing the same aside from a Reaper instead of Genji. They were the first to capture the point, positioning around the room in order to block all of Endicott's potential points of entry. After an incredible Zarya ult from Lever that took out three of Endicott's members, New Haven secured the first point. Both teams headed to the second point, and New Haven immediately pushed out with Kitsune Rush and Overclock. As the fight continued, multiple ultimates from both teams came out, with New Haven eventually winning the fight once more, taking the lead over the control point. Al-Mohanadi was on a rampage, continuing to pressure Endicott even as they took over the second point. Endicott did manage to capture it, evening out the score. As the third point opened up, New Haven wiped out the majority of the enemy team, annihilating them over and over again as they easily took the point for themselves. It was match point for New Haven as both teams moved towards the fourth point, fighting constantly, trading back and forth. Although New Haven briefly managed to recapture the point, it wasn't enough, and the score was moved to 2-2. It was down to the wire, and both teams were fighting with everything they possibly had. Al-Mohanadi took out both of Endicott's supports as many ultimates came out from both sides. New Haven had the point at 99%, but a sudden Reaper ultimate took out two of their players. The fight got a lot more dangerous, but as Johnson and Patel fought for their lives on the point, they took out the last member of Endicott, and won Game 6, bringing the series to match point at 3-3.

This would be the final map of the series, no matter who won. And whoever won would determine the Division III Champion for NECC's Overwatch league. Everything New Haven had worked for all season – every practice, every match, every team discussion – it all came down to this very moment.

Endicott chose Samoa, another Control map, for their final match. Both teams continued to run a team composition of Zarya, Lucio, and Kiriko, with Al-Mohanadi on Freja and Iacobucci on Genji, while Endicott's DPS were on Reaper and Mei. Everyone rushed out of the gate, wanting to be the first team on point. However, Endicott reached it first, quickly picking off Iacobucci and putting New Haven at a major disadvantage. They continued to try to push towards the point, but to no avail. They did manage to win the next fight, but it unfortunately wasn't enough as Endicott did take back the point, capping it to 100%. New Haven also switched to Al-Mohanadi on Mei and Iacobucci on Reaper, matching the composition of Endicott. Although they weren't the first to capture the point, they won the first fight. Endicott quickly got their revenge on the team, and the match began to trade fights once again. During the next fights, majority of the ultimates (Blizzard, Graviton Surge, Kitsune Rush, Sound Barrier, Death Blossom) were used, with New Haven no longer faltering. They managed to secure the second point, evening out the score.

The match was closer than ever, both teams knowing that this final match meant everything. New Haven was first to capture the point, quickly pushing Endicott back to their spawn and separating them with the help of Al-Mohanadi's walls. They continued to win fight after fight, a fire burning deeply within their souls. As the point got to 99%, Iacobucci managed to take out both the Lucio and Kiriko with his Death Blossom; however, Johnson and Patel were next to fall, evening the playing field. Iacobucci and Al-Mohanadi took out the Zarya and Mei, leaving just a Tracer blipping around point, trying to hold for as long as possible as Lever, Iacobucci, and Al-Mohanadi chased her down. As the rest of Endicott pushed forward once more, Al-Mohanadi walled off the main entrance to point, leaving no room for them to touch. 

With that final stroke of genius, New Haven took the Game 7 victory, winning the series in a close 4-3 fashion, and took home the Grand Finals trophy!

Conclusion

Cheers and screams erupted across the Stable. The varsity team burst out of their seats, practically crying with joy as they tackled each other in happiness. All their hard work, their blood, sweat, and tears had finally paid off. After having been teammates for over a year, these players had shared so many memories, whether that be team dinners, LAN events, or terrible scrimmages. Together, they were the strongest. 

It was an incredible scene to witness, the raw emotion pouring out from these individuals who put ego and stress behind them and worked tirelessly to achieve this incredible victory. Although next semester, the team will look very different, each and every one of these players will be able to look back on the memories they've made and be proud of how far they have come.

Here's to another great semester, and to an incredible future.

Congratulations Chargers, and good luck!