Both USM Rocket League Rosters Finish Top 8 Nationally

On April 14, both USM Gold and USM Blue Rocket League teams competed in their respective NECC National Tournaments. 

USM Gold vs. Southwestern Oklahoma State University

USM Gold started the night playing in the Division 6 Round of 16 vs. Southwestern Oklahoma State University. This series started with an incredibly hectic game 1, with each team scoring goals one after another. USM Gold managed to come out on top, winning the game 5-4 with 2 goals a piece from Alejandro De Aguero and Hudson Bell and one goal from Shamar Bryant.

Immediately after the nail biter game 1 victory, USM Gold kept the pressure up, taking a 2-0 series lead with a 4-2 victory. This game saw an absolutely electric performance from Shamar Bryant, who scored all four goals for the Spires.

Finally, in game 3, USM secured the series victory with a 3-1 win. All of the Spires got to showcase their skills in this one, with Bryant, De Aguero, and Bell each scoring one goal apiece. 

USM Gold vs. Centre College

Immediately after this series win, USM Gold faced off in their quarterfinals match vs. Centre College. Game one was an incredibly high scoring game, with the Spires unfortunately falling short, taking a game one loss 2-5. 

In game two, the Spires continued to struggle, dropping the second game 0-5. Finally, in game 3, the Spires put up their best effort, but were not quite able to get the job done, as they fell 0-2.  Despite the loss, USM Gold finish their season Top 8 in the NECC Division 6 Nationals - tying the best performance of any Rocket League team in school history!

USM Blue vs. Lakeland University

USM Blue was set to play right after USM Gold's final match, however their opponent did not check in, so USM Blue automatically moved on to the quarterfinals, where they faced Lakeland University.

In game 1, the Spires unfortunately fell short, dropping the first game 4-1, with Rylan Nowak scoring the only goal for the Spires.

Game two the Spires put up much more of a fight, but despite their best efforts were not able to come out on top, dropping the game 5-3. Lewis Gray led the Spires with 2 goals, with the last goal coming from Rylan Nowak.

Finally in game 3, the Spires once again fell just short of their goal, dropping the closest game of the set 3-2. Colin Smith scored two goals for the Spires in the last 30 seconds of the match, but USM was not able to secure the win.

This ends the USM Blue season, where they finished Top 8 in the NECC Division 7 Nationals. This roster came into this year at a disadvantage, as they did not compete in the fall, so they had to invest much more time than their opponents learning how to play with one another. Despite their struggles at the beginning of this semester, they battled back from a 0-3 regular season start to finishing top 8 nationally.

"I'm incredibly proud of what both of our Rocket League rosters were able to accomplish this semester," Head Coach Ethan Paladino said. "I'm incredibly excited to see how both of these teams will improve going into Fall 2025."