BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University League of Legends eSports team saw their RIOT College League of Legends season come to an end in the regional quarterfinals with a 3-0 loss to a very skilled Lourdes University team.
Bellevue sees their record dip to 9-4-1 in competitive matches as the finish 5-2 in RIOT College LoL North Conference play.
Prior to the start of the Playoffs Bellevue was among the teams featured on ESPN's eSports Page.
Up Next:
Bellevue will host the Inaugural Nebraska eSports Expo from Friday-Sunday, Apr. 27-29 which features a $7,500 Midwest League of Legends Tournament.
Match Lineup:
- Top Lane: Xu Xie "Sam" (abcabcabc)
- Jungle: Weirong Cai "Gavin" (IncredibleGom)
- Mid-Lane: Dylan Guidichessi (MercyLM)
- AD Carry: Gabriel Eckenroth (BU Tea Full)
- Bottom Lane: Chengyun Xue "Ray" (Raay)
Lourdes 3, Bellevue 0
Bellevue battled Lourdes for three games, but in an unforgiving single-elimination format saw their season come to a close, but lost the best-of-5 by a 3-0 score.
Competing in the deepest conference in the RIOT College League of Legends Season (North Conference), Bellevue reached the playoffs as a first-year program which is a nearly unheard of feat. Coach Alex Rogers said, "Although this marks the end of our regular season, I'd like to reflect on our accomplishments which include; making it into the top eight and being seeded fifth for the playoffs. These are both amazing accomplishments and we did this despite a late-season roster change and a language barrier with over half the team."
"I'm proud of how the team competed and making it this far allowed our players to gain additional scholarship money. It's unfortunate that we were eliminated in the quarterfinals, but it was extremely rewarding to know how much potential the team has for next year."
Moving Forward:
Bellevue's inaugural eSports season will be considered a success, as they are the only first-year program to qualify for the RIOT Regional Playoffs. Coach Alex Rogers is excited to see what the future holds for his program.
Said Coach Rogers, "With two returning starters to build around, I'm very hopeful and excited to for what next year has in store for the team. I envision building off this success to accomplish even more in 2018/19."
BU will be adding an Overwatch team to the eSports program for which Coach Rogers has spent this academic year recruiting. "I'm excited about our Overwatch team as I've had time to recruit and put together a competitive team. Bellevue University will be a force to be reckoned with and we will continue to make a mark with our eSports program. I expect that it will be firing on all cylinders next year and we're ready to make our mark on the college eSports scene."
