EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University Overwatch team started off their first ever post-season on a high note this weekend, rolling their winning streak to ten straight to stay alive in both the Varsity League tournament and the Regional League tournament.
 
VARSITY LEAGUE (Bracket)
 
The Varsity League sub-regional tournament began on Saturday and the No. 2 seed Beacons were the benefactors of a No-show from No. 7 Utah State in the opening round as they claimed a forfeit win. They closed out the day with a shutout victory over Jamestown to advance to the sub-regional finals next week where they will face off against the only team to beat them in Varsity competition this season, the top-seed University of Utah. The Utes are undefeated in Varsity action and swept the Beacons back in January.
 
The winner of the sub-region final will take on the winner of the other side of the bracket between No.1 UC Irvine (9-0) and No. 3 University of North Texas (6-2) in the regional championship. The region champ earns an automatic bid into the National Championship tournament.
 
NCU 3, Jamestown 0
 
The best-of-five match opened up on the Lijiang Tower map with NCU taking a 2-0 victory. The first point was taken easily, 100-0, after the Beacons got a few quick eliminations. The second point was also taken with a 100-0 score, but the Jimmies put up a stronger fight in that one, forcing the Beacons into a couple of close calls.
 
Map Two was Numbani, a hybrid contest. Starting on offense, the Beacons rolled through the first two objectives and completed the final push for a full three points. On defense, the Beacons took the first two team fights before the Jimmies were able to win the third and complete their first objective. Jamestown was stalled on their next four pushes and were held without getting to the second objective to hand the win to NCU.
 
The third map was Horizon Lunar Colony, an assault map. After each team successfully took both points, the game went into overtime with NCU holding a big time advantage with over seven minutes to work with. Jamestown had just one minute and were held by the NCU defense to start things off. Then the offense took over, taking the point on their first try to win the map and the match.
 
Alex "IAMSMARTALEX" Daraban was singled out as the team MVP for the match.
 
REGIONAL LEAGUE (Bracket)
 
NCU had just one match on Sunday in the Regional League tournament. As the No. 3 seed, the Beacons earned a first-round bye and waited to face No. 14 Central Washington in the round of 16. NCU won the best-of-five match in three games and will play in the regional quarterfinal next week against the No. 6 University of Washington B team. The winner of that match will face the winner of No. 2 Western Washington vs. No. 7 Nevada in the regional semifinal. That victor will clinch an automatic bid to the National Championship tournament.
 
The other side of the bracket featured the biggest upset of the tournament as the University of Washington A team, seeded No. 16, took down No. 1 and previously undefeated Washington State to advance to next week's quarterfinal against No. 9 Oregon Tech.
 
Northwest Christian 3, Central Washington 0
 
Just like in the varsity league, the best-of-five regional contest began on Lijiang Tower.  NCU opened up with a 100-0 victory to grab the first point from the Wildcats. The Beacons again took control on the second point and held strong to 99% before Central Washington took control. After two failed attempts, the Beacons finally took back the point to close out the game and win the map.
 
The Wildcats chose Hollywood for the second map, one which the Beacons lost in their only other attempt this season. NCU started on defense and CWU was held to just the first two objectives. It wouldn't be easy but the Beacon offensive effort yielded all three objectives to take the win.
 
Central Washington picked Volskaya Industries for the third assault map and once again the Beacons started on defense. NCU held off the Wildcats through three team fights before the Wildcats are finally able to take it on their fourth try.
 
Left with just four minutes to take the second point, CWU was stopped by the Beacon defense, leaving the door wide open for Northwest Christian to claim the victory. The Beacon offense did just that, quickly capturing the first point on their first push and rushing to the second point for a quick capture, sealing the win and their seat in the quarters.
 
Tyler "shockmaster" Chase was named the team MVP for the match.
 
SCHEDULE
 
Saturday, 3:00 pm: Beacons vs. Utah (Varsity Sub-Regional Final)
Saturday, 5:00 pm: Winner vs. Winner of UCI/North Texas (Regional Final) – Winner qualifies for National Championship
 
Sunday, 4:00 pm: Beacons vs. Washington B (Regional Quarterfinal)
Sunday, 6:00 pm: Winner vs. Winner of Western Washington/Nevada (Regional Semifinal) – Winner qualifies for National Championship