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EUGENE, Ore. – The inaugural season of Beacon Esports got underway last month and to call it a success would be an understatement.
 
The Beacons opened the season on January 30, taking down Lafayette College, Eastern Kentucky University, and Boise State in consecutive sweeps. No match took longer that 30-minutes as the Beacons steamrolled their way to a 3-0 record.
 
Just two days later, NCU played their first match in the Varsity League, taking another 2-0 win as they knocked off the University of Jamestown.
 
Those four straight opening wins were followed by the Beacons first taste of defeat as they were swept themselves in their next three matches against Utah, Bellevue and Christopher Newport.
 
The Beacons have shown resiliency, however, bouncing back with two more wins over Washington and Utah State to close out their first month at 6-3.
 
The battle with Utah State, while swept by the Beacons, proved to be a grueling meeting between two similarly skilled teams.
 
Opening with a Control battle on the Lijiang Tower map, NCU lost a closely fought first round. A dominating 100-0 second round tied the game up to force the third tie-breaking round. The Beacons took control early and looked to be cruising once again as they build a 92-0 lead. Utah State however, grabbed control and held it through a dramatic comeback as they went all the way to 99 before NCU stole back control. The Beacons held on and finished off the first-map victory with an epic 100-99 win.
 
Map two was King's Row, a Hybrid battle. Beacons started on defense and allowed the Aggies to get past only the first of three objectives. After a long pause due to technical difficulties for USU, NCU quickly went further than the Aggies to win the map and take the match.
 
On both maps, Jacob "goldfish" Gates collected the Play of the game and it was his leadership that was instrumental in the victory for the Beacons. Head Coach Taylor Lind said, "We had great team play and communication to take down a strong team tonight. Jacob was our MVP with his Reinhardt play. He showed a fantastic balance of patience and aggression, protecting his team while making big plays."
 
The season rolls on this Sunday when they face off against Lackawanna College (3-5) in a National match and Western Washington (6-0) in a Regional.