By Nick Forbes, Managing Editor of Content
Susquehanna’s “League of Legends” and “Hearthstone” teams made school history after they competed in the first ever PA Cup tournament on Saturday, March 30.
The PA Cup was a state government-sponsored tournament that included 16 teams from across the state including Temple University, Drexel University, Harrisburg University, and the University of Pennsylvania among others. Teams competed in “League of Legends,” “Hearthstone” and “Overwatch.”
The River Hawks fielded teams in first two games. Susquehanna’s “League of Legends” team kept their roster of seniors Ben Hunter, Zephie Cudimore, Brian Turner and head coach Alex Kurtz alongside freshman Chris Stamm and Tim Picozzi from their earlier stint in the Landmark Conference’s inaugural season.
Before the tournament though, the school had no recognized Hearthstone team or club on campus, so players were found through an open tryout process.
Seniors Sean Murray and Grant Talbert were selected to compete in “Hearthstone” for the Susquehanna team. The duo unfortunately fell to Lafayette University in the first round of the single-elimination tournament.
After “Hearthstone” matches concluded, the “League of Legends” team competed at 12 p.m. from Apfelbaum Hall against the University of Pennsylvania.
The squad lost the best-of-three matchup in two games, but competed at a high level, and drew praise from their head coach, as both teams fell to teams that played in the final round of the tournament.
“The second game we got some good picks and good rotations out and was a huge improvement from game one,” Picozzi said.
Although Susquehanna did not advance to the final round, members of the team still traveled to the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg, Pa. to watch teams that did make it compete on the big stage.
The final round of the tournament was held in an IMAX theatre, with teams competing from computers placed in front of the larger-than-life screen.
“The production value was really great and it was nice to actually see the players on stage,” Picozzi said.
Susquehanna watched as Drexel dismantled Lafayette in “Hearthstone.”
Up next was “Overwatch,” a team-based, first-person shooter that pits two teams of six against each other. Harrisburg was able to defeat Drexel handily 2–0 in the best-of-three matchup. Since then, the team has moved onto the top eight in playoffs for TESPA, the collegiate league for the game.
To conclude the day, Susquehanna watched as Harrisburg battled University of Pennsylvania in the “League of Legends” finals.
Harrisburg was able to have their way with their opponent in the first match, but ran into difficulties in the second match. University of Pennsylvania was able to get Harrisburg out of rhythm for a few moments, taking two of Harrisburg’s towers and winning the vision battle early on.
In the end though Harrisburg destroyed University of Pennsylvania’s nexus to earn the honors of being the first “League of Legends” team to win the PA Cup.
The loss in the tournament concludes both team’s seasons, and although the season was not the best, Stamm remains optimistic going forward.
“Having the experience of playing against higher-elo teams is always a great opportunity,” Stamm said. “You don’t get better unless you take a few losses.”
Stamm and Picozzi will be the only two returning members from the starting rosters this season heading into the 2020 collegiate season.
“Next year we are losing three members and our coach, which is a drawback,” Stamm said. “Next year we will have to work with what we got with the new members in the club.”