EUGENE, Ore. – It was a tough week for Bushnell Esports as the Beacons fell in Valorant, Rocket League, Overwatch and League of Legends. The 2021-22 NACE Starleague competition continues this week with three more matches.

VALORANT
Valorant competition took on a different format this season due to restrictions on collegiate competition from the developer. Competition was required to be within four weeks in length. The tournament format began with a single-elimination East/West Open Qualifier 1 (Sept. 19-23) in which 64 teams from each division competed. The Beacons fell in the opening round of the West Open Qualifier 1 to the University of California (Gold). The East/West Open Qualifier 2 began on Sunday, Sept. 26 and will continue through Thursday, Sept. 30. 

Blinn College 2, Bushnell 0 (13-5, 13-3)
Bushnell fell in the Round of 64 of the West Open Qualifier 2 on Sunday. Cole "Crow" Vamos joined Kenyon "Keny116" Webster-Lorentzen on the live stream. 

The Beacons led 5-4 before the Buccaneers pulled out nine unanswered points to take game one. The Buccaneers held the Beacons to three in the second game, using an 8-0 closing run to win the series and move on to the Round of 32.

ROCKET LEAGUE
The Rocket League regular season consists of nine rounds of conference play. All matches are a best-of-five games. The top-three teams from each conference will move on to the postseason which begins with a Conference Play-In (2^nd vs 3^rd) followed by the Conference Championship (1^st vs Play-In Winner).

Colorado College 3, Bushnell 0 (2-0, 4-0, 3-0)
Bushnell (0-4) struggled to find the net for the second straight match, finishing with a 26-7 deficit in shots. It is still before the halfway point for the young Beacon squad as they have five matches to go in the regular season.

The Beacons trailed by just one goal for most of the first game, thanks in part to Preston "PrestoMagic" Clark's three saves. The Beacons managed just one shot in the second game, while the Tigers took 10, keeping Bushnell in prevent mode. The Tigers continued their early leads into the third game to earn the series sweep.

Up next, the Beacons take on Neumont Esports (1-3), who earned their only win against UHM Tsunami.

OVERWATCH
The Overwatch regular season consists of nine rounds of conference play. All matches are a best-of-five games. The top-three teams from each conference will move on to the postseason which begins with a Conference Play-In (2^nd vs 3^rd) followed by the Conference Championship (1^st vs Play-In Winner). The Beacons still have their sights set on a top-three spot as they enter their fifth-round match with a 2-2 record. 

Grand Canyon 3, Bushnell 0 (0-2, 2-3, 4-5)
The Beacons (2-2) fell 3-0 in the best-of-five series with the Antelopes but kept it a tight competition. Shoutcasters Kenyon "Keny116" Webster-Lorentzen and Chase "Pt Loser" Dean provided commentary for the match.

Webster-Lorentzen was optimistic about the future of this squad after the competitive match with GCU. "It was a very close series and barring a couple of mistakes, it was neck-and-neck to the very end on every map. Most of them didn't end up going Bushnell's way in this case but they definitely had the opportunities and skill sets to win these games. Competing that closely with a team like GCU is amazing; they are such a good roster and a coordinated team. It shows brightness for the future of Bushnell."

However, it won't get any easier next week as Bushnell takes on Boise State, the only undefeated team in the league.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
League operates in a Swiss-style format, meaning opponents will be determined after each round of play with teams competing against another team with the same number of regular-season wins. Each match is a best-of-three games. At the end of the regular season, the top-eight teams from each conference will move on to the conference playoffs.

Bushnell 2, UC Irvine 0 (12-27, 8-22)
The Beacons (1-1) were unable to overcome a highly ranked UC Irvine squad. UCI came in with a pair of Grandmaster rankings and three upper-Diamond players. Bushnell will go for its second win on Tuesday (Oct. 5) with a match against Northern Arizona University.

Coming Up: Overwatch and Rocket League matches are scheduled for Monday, Oct. 4. League of Legends enters its third-round match on Tuesday, Oct. 5.

Check the Bushnell Esports schedule here to stay up to date on any schedule changes. 

Follow twitch.tv/bushnellesports to get notified when each match begins.