BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The digital age of Bellevue University athletics kicked off on Friday night as the inaugural eSports team lost to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville in the Bruins' first-ever AVGL (American Video Game League) League of Legends match.
As expected, the first game for a new program produced a unique setting for all student-athletes which led to some uncharacteristic jitters and results.
Game No. 1:
The first-ever match got off to good start with a very close contest through the beginning and middle portions of the first game. As the first game was moving towards the conclusion it quickly, and decisively, went to SIU-E's favor. The turning point came on a Bellevue mistake around the mid-point which gave SIU-Edwardsville a big strategical advantage that they parlayed into a deep advance into BU territory and allowed them to destroy the Bruins' Nexus (home base).
Game No. 2:
In the second game of tonight's match the Bruins started strong and built a lead. However, like the first game SIU-Edwardsville used strong strategical maneuvering and an in-depth scouting report to out-match BU and turn the tide to their favor earning the win.
Both Coach Alex Rogers and Analyst Liam Arsenault noted that the end score was not indicative of the game in its entirety.
The student-athletes (along with their Gamer Tags) comprising the history-making starting lineup were:
Top Lane: Xu Xie "Sam" (abcabcabc)
Jungle: Huihao Zhong "Vincent" (v1nSenTe)
Mid-Lane: Dylan Guidichessi (Asuh My Dudes)
AD Carry: Gabriel Eckenroth (Lilman)
Bottom Lane: Chengyun Xue "Ray" (Raay)
Analyst: Liam Arsenault (salty bob)
Coach: Alex Rogers (d3ngerzone)
Bellevue is back in action tomorrow with a pair of matches against Wisconsin and Waterloo (Ont.) at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
