OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Esports program will have two teams competing for NACE Starleague Varsity Plus Championships next week as both the Rocket League and Overwatch 2 teams advanced after winning their respective semifinals on Monday and Tuesday.

ROCKET LEAGUE

Being re-matched against a Lawrence Tech (Mich.) team that the Evangels fell to in the first game of the season on Feb. 5 in the best-of-seven East 5 Semifinal on Monday, MACU came out as the aggressors to secure a 4-1 victory over the Blue Devils.

Game One

In the first game, Javier Cerillo Soto (Cl0ver) pushed across the go-ahead goal just seven seconds into the match before adding an insurance goal before extending the lead to 2-0 just 33 seconds later when Cl0ver's takeaway found Luis Reyes (SOL) wide open for an easy open net tap-in.

LTU found its first goal with 3:05 left to cut it to a one-goal game before Cl0ver punched one back in from the middle off a stellar SOL ricochet pass off the right wall, setting the score to 3-1 with 2:20 to go. The Blue Devils did net one more goal with 14 seconds left, but it was too little, too late as the Evangels held on for the 3-2 victory.

Game Two

MACU started off game two strong as great setup by Jadon Maxwell (Brainz) on the dribble set up Cl0ver for the first score of the contest at the 4:13 mark, but Lawrence Tech managed to tie it up with 3:04 left on a strong aerial pass for the right-side tap-in goal.

With the match just past the midway point, Cl0ver briefly gave the Evangels the lead after driving by one defender and flipping a mis-directed rear bumper shot toward the open left side of the goal to set the score to 2-1.

However, the match would not go in the Evangels' favor as LTU scored the equalizer with 1:20 left before scoring the game-winner just four seconds later. The Blue Devils managed to put one more in at the buzzer to hand MACU its only defeat of the match at 4-2.

Game Three

The Evangels opened the scoring in the third game when SOL managed to punch in the go-ahead goal into the open right side with 4:39 remaining off an initial Cl0ver miss off the left post.

LTU tied the game up on an incredible long range shot that deflected off the inside of the left post with 3:57 to go, but Cl0ver punched in the go-ahead goal once again at the 2:26 mark on a sensational aerial set up by a Brainz wall-crawling pass from the right corner.

Brainz broke into the scoring column with exactly two minutes left with a sensational steal along the left wall before riding it into the net with a sensational tight squeeze tapper off the inside of the right post, making it a 3-1 game.

Lawrence Tech did get a goal back with 1:40 left to make it a one-score contest, but SOL capped off the scoring with a phenomenal takeaway of his own along the right wall before punching in a tight right angle shot inside the left post before being demolished for the 4-2 score with 53 seconds left.

Game Four

The fourth game of the evening held some of the highest stakes as a MACU win would it just a win away from advancing while an LTU victory would tie the match up.

Lawrence Tech secured the early advantage when an aerial takeaway down the right side set up LTU's iapologiz for the long range bouncing go-ahead goal with 4:26 left. The Blue Devils added to their advantage with a stiff physical pressure in MACU's backfield knocked the Evangels off their lines with a demo as the open put-in set the score to 2-0 with 3:49 to go.

At the 2:59 mark, the Evangels cut the deficit in-half when Sol executed a takeaway on the left side, deflecting a ball off the ceiling right to Brainz for the easy open shot to set the score to 2-1.

Pressure mounted for the Evangels as they were unable to score an equalizer until a deflection off the right midfield wall set up Cl0ver for an incredible aerial redirect into the back of LTU's net with only six seconds remaining, allowing the game to go to overtime.

With just over a minute into extra time, the Evangels netted the golden goal when SOL retrieved a loose ball in the right corner and delivered a perfectly timed centering pass to Brainz for the punch-in on the right side, wrapping up the thrilling 3-2 victory.

Game Five

Cl0ver started a dominant showing for the Evangels in the fifth game by flying in on an aerial midfield contest to fire in a long-range goal deflected off the right post to set the score to 1-0 with 4:45 remaining.

The Blue Devils did manage to find an equalizer at the 3:12 mark, but SOL punched in the ultimate game-winner with a stellar clearance from MACU's backfield and with boost completely stocked up, was able to run down the loose ball that deflected off the right wall and the right corner and tap it in between two LTU defenders to take the 2-1 lead.

Brainz added one more insurance off some stiff MACU pressure with 1:24 left as Lawrence Tech was unable to score again off the Evangels' stellar defense in the 3-1 win.

With the victory, Mid-America Christian will face off against the East 5 regular season champion Kettering (Mich.) in the Championship match at 6 p.m. on Monday, Apr. 15. The Evangels were the only team to hand Kettering its only loss of the season during the regular season by a score of 3-1 on Mar. 11.

OVERWATCH 2

The NACE Starleague Varsity Plus West-Central 2 regular season champions looked to start its playoff push on a high note as the Evangels battled Kansas City to a 3-0 victory in the semifinal on Tuesday night. The five-player tandem of Captains Tristin Barton (PonyBoy1221) and Rushell Herrera (SpicyGhost) alongside Aaron Dodson (Immortal), James Orquiz (ExiledMex) and Bobby Young (YoungZPlayin) will be contending for the program's second Overwatch 2 Playoff Championship after winning the East 6 Championship last spring.

Control

Opening the match with Control, the Evangels were able to outduel Kansas City and push them off the control point before seizing first control of the point.

During UMKC's first push, the Evangels narrowly missed completing a team wipe, holding 55-percent control of the zone when PonyBoy1221 completed a 10-player kill streak, knocking the Roos down to just one active player with 55-percent of the zone in MACU's control.

During another contest from Kansas City, MACU was able to finish off a complete team wipe of Kansas City as three PonyBoy1221 kills to go with a kill apiece from SpicyGhost and YoungZPlayin put MACU at 85-percent control of the zone, allowing the Evangels to hold control for the entirety of the first round.

At the start of the second round, MACU managed to grab control of the zone first, but the Evangels were only able to hold 13-percent before UMKC narrowly missed a complete team wipe, pushing MACU off and securing the zone.

The Roos managed to hold the zone up to 84-percent before the Evangels push eliminated four UMKC players off two PonyBoy1221 kills and a kill each for SpicyGhost and Immortal, allowing MACU to seize control.

MACU pushed it up to 63-percent control before the Roos stole command back behind a strong contest before ultimately securing the win to tie the control round up at 1-1.

In the decisive third round, the Evangels seized the first control of the zone and were able to hold it for 72-percent before UMKC grabbed a 4-1 player advantage to secure its first and only advantage.

UMKC was only able to hold onto control of the zone for 28-percent before stealthily breaking into middle, recapturing without eliminating a single player. The Evangels managed to hold control up to 99-percent before the Roos eliminated four Evangels heading into overtime to recapture the point control.

Even though Kansas City was able to maintain control up to 92-percent, two PonyBoy1221 eliminations followed by a pair of ExiledMex kills and a SpicyGhost elimination allowed MACU to take it back and hold on for the 100-92 victory and win the Control Round, 2-1.

Escort

In the escort round, the Evangels were tasked with defending the payload first and were able to defend it for 3:45 before Kansas City eliminated off of MACU's players within a 20-second stretch to secure the payload.

During UMKC's 2:45 payload push time, the Roos managed to push the payload 85.15-meters before a pair of kills each by YoungZPlayin and PonyBoy1221 with 1:28 on the clock put Kansas City in a precarious retake situation.

UMKC managed to fight back to push the payload 4.76-meters farther before pushing the Roos off the advance to limit the final push to 89.91-meters.

During MACU's turn to secure the payload, the Evangels completed a team wipe with just over a minute left, allowing the Evangels to secure the zone and give MACU a 3:30 payload push time.

Four quick eliminations, two of which by YoungZPlayin allowed MACU to push the objective to 79.29-meters before UMKC managed to push the Evangels off the playload.

MACU appeared to be in-trouble when a quad elimination knocked MACU down to just one player with just over a minute to go, but the Evangels with their final push were able to execute a quad-elimination with YoungZPlayin taking out three UMKC players to allow the Evangels to re-secure the payload during an overtime contest, allowing to push the payload past UMKC's 89.91-meter mark to secure the victory.

Flashpoint

In a heated battle for the first flashpoint, the Evangels were able to secure the first control before wiping UMKC's team behind a trio of SpicyGhost kills and a kill each from ExiledMex and YoungZPlayin, keeping the Roos off the point for 99-percent before three quick UMKC eliminations allowed it to grab control of the flashpoint.

The Roos were able to control the first flashpoint up to 66-percent before a pair of kills by PonyBoy1221 and SpicyGhost allowed MACU to reclaim and secure the 100-66 win of the opening zone.

The second flashpoint was tightly contested at first, but a UMKC triple kill allowed the Roos to secure the zone first. Another quad-kill by the Roos on MACU's first push allowed the zone control to reach 99-percent and overtime before MACU executed a complete team wipe with ExiledMex wiping out three players to go along with a kill each from SpicyGhost and PonyBoy1221.

The Evangels also were able to get the second flashpoint control up to 99-percent with an overtime battle commencing, but a crucial triple-kill by the Roos allowed UMKC to capture the last second control and take the second point, 100-99.

In the battle for the all-too-important third flashpoint, UMKC grabbed the first control, getting up to 35-percent before MACU managed to capture the zone for the first time. Kansas City did try one last late push to resecure the point, but multiple trades preceded SpicyGhost and two PonyBoy1221 kills to team wipe UMKC for the 100-35 victory.

In the fight for the final flashpoint for MACU to secure for the win, the Evangels secured the early capture after a heated contest from Kansas City. During UMKC's attempted first push back, ExiledMex notched a pair of quick kills along with a YoungZPlayin termination to push the Roos away for a regroup.

The Roos tried to make one last push for the fourth flashpoint in overtime, but once again, MACU stood its ground as ExiledMex, SpicyGhost and YoungZPlayin notching kills before SpicyGhost and ExiledMex completed the team wipe to secure the dominant wire-to-wire 100-0 win.

The Evangels will be looking for some payback against West Texas A&M in the NACE Starleague Varsity Plus West-Central 2 Championship on Tuesday, Apr. 16 at 7:30 p.m. as the Buffaloes were the only team to defeat MACU during the regular season in a nail-biting 3-2 defeat on Feb. 20.