EUGENE, Ore. – The inaugural season of Northwest Christian University esports came to a close this weekend as the team was eliminated in the second weekend of post-season action.
 
By all measures, the first season was a huge success with the Beacons going 18-6 and taking second-place in the Varsity league western region.
 
VARSITY LEAGUE
 
The Beacons competed in the Varsity sub-regional final and had a rematch with the only team to beat them in the regular season, undefeated University of Utah.
 
The Utes completed the season-sweep of NCU, winning 3-0 to advance to the regional final where they lost in five maps to UC Irvine.
 
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.
 
Utah 3, Northwest Christian 0
 
The best-of-five match opened up on the control map, Ilios. NCU won the first round, 100-90, but Utah responded with a 100-0 victory in round two. After taking the initial point in round three and holding until 99%, the Beacons succumbed to the Utes who held on for the 100-99 win to seal the map victory.  
 
The Beacons picked assault map Kings Row for the second game. NCU started on offense and were stopped after attaining the first objective to record one point. Utah responded with two points to claim the map.
 
Volskaya Industries was the NCU choice for the third map, and the assault battle went to Utah, 1-0. The Beacons again started on offense but were unable to get the first objective.
 
Bretton "mothergoose" Lloyd was singled out as the team MVP for the match.
 
REGIONAL LEAGUE
 
The No. 3 seeded Beacons won their opening match on Sunday to advance to the regional league semifinals, but were ultimately defeated by an upstart University of Nevada team to end the season.
 
NCU opened with a decisive 3-0 win over No. 6 Washington B team. Nevada, the No. 7 seed, upset No. 2 Western Washington in their opener and went on to defeat the Beacons, 3-0 to advance and claim a spot in the National Championship.
 
Northwest Christian 3, University of Washington B 0
 
NCU opened up on Lijiang Tower and cruised to the 2-0 win over the Huskies. Playing King's Row second, the Beacons were again dominant, holding UW away from the first objective on defense before claiming the objective on offense in quick fashion.
 
Volskaya Industries was chosen for the third map and the Beacons won again, 2-1. The Beacons started on defense and held off four strong pushes before Washington eventually took the point. The huskies were unable to secure the second point and the Beacons went on to quickly cap both points for the win.
 
Gabe "Nukeleotide" Hansen was named the team MVP of the match.
 
University of Nevada 3, Northwest Christian 0
 
Beginning on Ilios, the teams embarked on a fierce battled that saw Nevada sweep the first two rounds, 100-82 and 100-85. Kings Row was second and saw NCU unable to take the first objective on offense after four strong attempts. The Beacons held a few Nevada pushes before the Wolfpack was finally able to take the objective and win the map.
 
Volskaya was once again chosen as the third map and NCU started on offense. After three team fights the Beacons claimed the first point and pushed straight to the next point in quick fashion. On defense, the Beacons lost the first team fight and gave up the point as Nevada still had seven minutes to cap the second point. The Wolfpack quickly did so, sending the battle to overtime.
 
The Beacons fought hard but failed to cap the second point, Nevada claimed both points to close the map, the match, and the NCU season.
 
Alex "IAMSMARTALEX" Daraban was named the team MVP for the match.