Syracuse Esports battles to grand finals in Inaugural PEC Championship
Syracuse battles to grand finals in Inaugural PEC Championship
Led by its Overwatch team, SU’s four esports teams all finished up with their runs in the first PEC Championship tournament.
The teams heated up, the commentators got excited and a mom on the second level yelled, “Defense, defense!”
No, it was not a high school basketball game. It was a glimpse into day one of the Power Esports Conference Championship.
Out of the four Syracuse Esports Teams that made the trip to Vegas, the Overwatch squad was the only one to make the finals. Syracuse lost to Boise Stage 4-0 on the grand stage. Meanwhile SU’s Rocket League, Valorant and Super Smash Bros Ultimate teams fell short of reaching the finals in the first ever PEC Championships.
As the 2025 PEC season officially wrapped up, Travis Yang, the director of esports competition, said he is happy with how Syracuse went through this starting year of a new conference.
“Going into PEC we didn’t necessarily know what to expect,” he said. “Just because this is such a unique group of schools that wouldn’t normally compete against each other as much. I think that we’ve gone through a full year, I’m feeling a lot better.”
Into 2026, Yang expects steady progress as well.
“Just nothing crazy,” he said. “Just continue to build on this foundation that we’ve created. I’m sure some teams may have some players graduating, may have some new recruits coming in, so there’ll be some changes and some time there to adapt. But overall, I expect all the teams to continue to get better.”
Rocket League (Double elimination)
Round 1: #4 Nebraska 2-3 #5 SU (3-1, 1-3, 2-1, 1-3, 0-2)
For the opening game, Syracuse, the fifth seed, took on the fourth seed University of Nebraska in this game of “soccer for race cars.”
Despite trailing twice during the game, the Orange managed to pull the game even and took the Cornhuskers to the deciding map. Every time the Orange scored, Matt “Mr Liddell” Liddell turned to Gabriel “Gababy” Goodwin, the team’s captain, shook him as hard as possible and yelled, “Come on!”
Nine seconds into the final map, Liddell scored on early offence to give Syracuse a huge lead. “The best goal I’ve scored so far,” Liddell was proud of that play.
Syracuse secured the map with 2-0 and won the first round 3-2 over Nebraska.
“It was the greatest comeback I’ve had at all at Syracuse,” Liddell said. “And I’ve never been so excited to play for Syracuse.”
Round 2: #1 Michigan State 3-0 #5 SU (4-2, 2-0, 5-0)
In round two, Syracuse took on the #1 seed Michigan State University. Despite taking an early lead in the first map, Syracuse couldn’t match the Spartans on the pitch, losing 3-0 bitterly and dropping to the losers’ bracket.
Even with a tough loss, Goodwin took away something good. “I will say I thought that our defense was very solid considering their level of offense,” he said. “I thought that we did good not to panic and we stopped their solo plays pretty well.”
Losers round 1: #5 SU 3-0 #6 Ohio State (3-1, 2-1, 4-2)
Coming back became a main theme in the first round of the lower bracket between Syracuse and Ohio State University.
Goodwin gave one of his best performances with a hat trick in map one after Syracuse trailing early on. And the Orange hit Ohio State with another comeback 2-1 in map two to secure the match point. “I feel like my shooting that game was very on point,” Goodwin said. “So that definitely gives me confidence for future matches going forward.”
On map three, Syracuse left their opponents with no chances at all, 4-2 to take away the win. With a clean sheet, Syracuse advanced to the losers’ semifinals.
Losers semis: #4 Nebraska 3-1 #5 SU (1-2, 3-1, 5-2, 1-0)
In the lower bracket semifinal, Syracuse faces University of Nebraska again, and this time the Orange couldn’t stop the Cornhuskers.
Over all, a slip on early defense hurt the Orange. Despite giving one of the best defensive performances late in the game, Syracuse couldn’t prevent Nebraska from scoring at the begining of the map. The Cornhusker took early leads on map three and four to secure their win.
Goodwin gave credits to Nebraska after the game. “They put a lot more pressure on us,” he said. “They did a good job of boost starving us so just hard to get the ball out and be productive with the ball”
With the loss, SU’s Rocket League team closed out its season. “It’s still really good progress for us,” Goodwin said. “It was in a good spot to move forward for next season. I’m still happy with how we played this event.”
Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Double elimination)
Round 1: #2 Ohio State 2-1 #7 SU
In the opening game, the seventh seed Syracuse challenged the #2 seed Ohio State University in the classic Nintendo game.
Against a much higher seeded opponent, the Orange managed to pull the game into the final map and down to a faceoff between both teams’ last player. But eventually the Buckeyes still bested Syracuse and sent them to the lower bracket.
Even as the last seed, Harrison “quick” Scott had high hopes. “We did a lot of work and helped us tie it up in game three down to those last two people,” he said. “I think we should keep our heads up. This was supposed to be a lot harder for us.”
Losers Round 1: #7 SU 1-2 #6 Boise State
Facing elimination, the Orange painfully saw the same storyline yet again. After giving away the first map, then taking the second, Syracuse again fell short in the final map and ended their PEC championship run with two losses.
In the end, the last seed Syracuse couldn’t deliver a surprise, but Bartolotta still spotted good things from the team’s performance. “I’m genuinely so proud of what this team has done,” he said. “I trust that all of our guys’ tech skill is already there, and it’s just going to be collaborating as a team more and just building that partnership. And once we get through that, we’re set.”
Valorant (Single elimination)
Round 1: #4 Boise State 2-0 #5 SU (13-10, 13-4)
The No. 5 seed Syracuse played the No. 4 seed Boise State University in their first game of the popular First-Person Shooter (FPS) game.
For a single elimination bracket, the Orange made one of the most unfortunate mistakes: they had a slow start. On Sunset, the map picked by themselves, Syracuse lost both pistol rounds, basically giving away four rounds in total at the beginning of both first and second half. It eventually cost them the first map 13-10.
Then on Haven, Boise State’s map pick, the Orange barely stood a chance and lost 13-4.
After the game, Presley “pretz” Zhang, the team’s captain, admitted that the voice of the casters at first was too loud and interfered with their gameplay. “We couldn’t hear each other,” he said. “Honestly, we couldn’t even hear ourselves.”
“But we’ve lost to Boise both times we face them,” he continued. “So we can’t really make an excuse for that.”
Fifth Place Match: #5 SU 2-0 #7 Nebraska (13-7, 13-5)
In the fifth-place game, Syracuse was finally relaxed and play the way they should have. Quick and easy, the Orange swept the Cornhuskers with 2-0.
Without much pressure on their shoulders, the players simply enjoyed their game. They smiled more, shouted louder, and fist-bumped their teammates a lot harder.
With this win, SU’s Valorant team ended up in fifth place of the PEC Championship tournament.
“That last game was pretty fun,” Zhang said. “Played a map we’ve never played before. It should be pretty smooth sailing from now, because not really that much pressure anymore.”
Overwatch (Double elimination)
Round 2: #2 Syracuse 3-1 #6 Ohio State
As the No.2 seed, the Orange entered the bracket in the second round. And with a convincing 3-1, they advanced to the upper bracket’s final.
In the first game, Capture, the teams had to occupy a point for a certain amount of time. The Orange lost on the first map and had their whole game on the line on the second, as they let the enemy make it to 99% of the capture. However, they miraculously came back on top, and took another narrow win on map three, with the Buckeyes reaching 98%, to close out the first game.
In the second game, Hybrid, a game mode that combines both assaults and escorts, the Orange once again achieved the impossible. After taking map one, they gave away the first two checkpoints on map two. But they kept the enemy team fruitless for over six minutes and secured this best-of-three game with a swift 2-0.
Although the Buckeyes were able to get one back in game 3, Push, the Orange dominated again in game four, Flashpoint, where both teams needed to compete to capture five points in total.
Building off another sweet comeback after Ohio State reached 99%, Syracuse went 3-1 in the game and so a total score of 3-1 to close out the whole round.
“It was a great game,” said Max “m3b4p5” Peters. “Some rounds came down to 1%, which comes down to one fight, which can come down to one ultimate or one cooldown.
Peters also recognized the importance of that momentum. “The team’s mental, the team’s confidence,” he said. “That’s even more important than playing well honestly.”
Semifinal: #1 Boise State 3-0 #2 SU
In the upper bracket final, Syracuse couldn’t come up against the dominant first seed Boise State University.
Throughout the entire game, the opponent’s hero, Wrecking Ball, caused serious trouble for Syracuse. Despite some good plays, the Orange was unable to take a single map and headed to the lower bracket.
“They’re just a better team than us,” Peters said after the game. “We tried. We gave it our all, and that’s how it turned out. I had an amazing time and I think my team can say the same.”
Losers round 3: #2 SU 3-1 #3 Kansas
On the final day of the tournament, Syracuse competed against University of Kansas in the lower bracket final for one last ticket to the grand final.
With all three other teams standing behind and cheering, the Overwatch team came out strong and took away the first game with a clean 2-0. But the Jayhawks also proved themselves in the second game, as they took away a “should-have” for the Orange.
However, the defeat during the second game also woke up Syracuse, and they simply stomped through the final two games and headed to the grand final with 3-1.
Ryan Blankenhorn, Syracuse varsity Overwatch head coach, was proud of the team for making it to the grand final. “Obviously making it to grand finals is a big deal,” he said. “ These guys have worked tirelessly to get to this point. At the end of the day, it’s the dedication that they had to put in the hours, put in the work to get to this point.”
Grand final: #1 Boise State 4-0 #2 SU
In the grand final it was again David against Goliath. Syracuse, as the underdog, faced Boise State University for a second time, and this time with one game disadvantage too because of coming from the lower bracket.
The Orange pushed back as hard as they can, but the Broncos once again showed everyone why they were the favorites coming into this tournament. They took Capture, Hybrid and Escort in a row, finished off the grand final with 4-0 and won the school the last trophy of the PEC Championship tournament.
For Blankenhorn, losing in the grand final was not shocking. “We knew that Boise was a tier above every other team here,” he said. “We have been the only team that has really given them push back. And for that, I take great pride in, as every player should as well.”
“We knew that we could have and we did, and we had a great time against Boise,” he continued. “And now we’re looking forward to 2026, where we’re going to come back ten times stronger, just as we did this year.”
is a contributor for The NewsHouse