CHICAGO – The Saint Xavier University Esports squads started the 2023-24 season on the right foot, going 7-5 in their first 12 matches of the year and are 3-1 in Great Lakes Esports Conference (GLEC) play. All five squads: League of Legends (1-0), Overwatch (1-1), Rocket League (3-2), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (SSBU) (1-1) and Valorant (1-1) have had matches so far to begin the 2023-24 campaign.

• Rocket League kicked off the season with a 3-0 victory over Radford University (Va.) on September 5. The lineup of 'Orc' senior Peyton Benes (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew), 'IamDJ6' freshman Gabriel Krueger (Bolingbrook, Ill./Homeschool) and 'Toast' sophomore Marcos Nunez (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn Community) won game one by a 5-4 score, took game two 3-2 and ended the match with a 6-2 win in the best-of-five contest.
• The Overwatch team for the Cougars featured the five-person lineup of 'alphabet' sophomore William Barquero Roma (Miami, Fla./Archimedean Upper Conservatory), 'Monkey' junior Jonathan Cosgrove (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice), 'Citronboss27' sophomore Michael Guzaitis (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) and 'Glocktopus' senior Michael Hamm (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence) also started their season on September 5 with a 3-0 loss to Ashland University (Ohio). The Eagles won the best-of-five match by scored of 2-0, 3-1 and 3-0.
• The four-person lineup for SSBU for SXU featured 'Blokit' sophomore Francisco Cayetano-Perez (Chicago, Ill./Curie), 'B-Bop' sophomore Brian Dykstra (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew), 'Frieren' freshman Melissa Rios Medina (Mount Prospect, Ill./Hersey) and 'Immersed' sophomore Javier Rodriguez (Chicago, Ill./Hancock College Prep). The squad started their season with back-to-back contests on September 8 & 9 with a pair of GLEC matches. Saint Xavier lost 2-0 to Cleveland State University (Ohio) on Friday but bounced back with a 2-0 triumph over Albion College (Mich.) on Saturday.
• Rocket League rallied from a 2-1 deficit in their match vs. University of Central Missouri on Monday, September 11 to claim a 3-2 win. The Cougars won game one, 2-1, before the Mules took games two & three by scores of 2-1 and 4-1, respectively. SXU evened the match with a 3-1 victory in game four and won the decisive game five by a 2-1 margin.
• Overwatch earned the win over UNC Greensboro (N.C.), a 3-0 triumph, on Tuesday, September 12. SXU swept the best-of-five by scores of 2-0, 3-2 and 3-1.
• The Valorant team of 'Ray' freshman Ray Ago Rama (Bridgeview, Ill./Argo Community), 'Ambargo' freshman Zavier Hamilton (Detroit, Mich./Thurston), 'KitKat' sophomore Katy McCool (Clarendon Hills, Ill./DuPage/Hinsdale Central), 'TBOP' senior Tien Nguyen (Calumet City, Ill./Bloom), 'BQ31' senior Brandon Quirarte (Camarillo, Calif./Rio Mesa) and 'szubi' junior Sebastian Szuba (Justice, Ill./Moraine Valley/Argo Community) began GLEC play with a 2-0 victory over Bethel University (Ind.) on Wednesday, September 13.
• The League of Legends team of 'Moochi' junior Xavier Bryant (Rockford, Ill./Boylan Catholic), 'MICKEYMOUSE' senior Josh Lagrosa (Orland Park, Ill./Shepard), 'dmshadow' senior Daniel Mendez (Chicago, Ill./Daley/Spry Community Links), 'SomethingCool' sophomore Ahmed Osman (Chicago, Ill./Illinois-Chicago/Park House) and 'WHAT U GOT' junior Armend Shabani (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) started conference competition with a 2-0 victory over Alma College (Mich.) on Thursday, September 14.
• Rocket League took part in the Great Lakes Collegiate Rocket League – Full Minor 1 on Friday, September 15. The lost to Purdue University (Ind.) in their first match, 2-1, but defeated the Boilermakers in the elimination bracket, 2-1. The Cougars were eliminated by University of Michigan by a 3-1 score.
• Valorant competed in the Red Bull Campus Clutch: USA Great Lakes Qualifier No. 2 and were defeated by University of Wisconsin-Stout, 1-0.

Saint Xavier (7-5) takes on Lubbock Christian University (Texas) in Rocket League of Monday, September 18. Overwatch plays Kennesaw State University (Ga.) on Tuesday, September 19 at the Shannon Center. Wednesday, September 20 has three teams in GLEC action as SSBU faces Defiance College (Ohio), Valorant takes on Indiana Wesleyan University and League of Legends plays Lourdes University (Ohio). Valorant plays Albion on Thursday, September 21. SSBU competes in the Confluence at Rosa Parks Circle on Saturday, September 23 in Grand Rapids, Mich and Alma in conference play. Valorant takes on Anderson University (Ind.) and League of Legends faces Defiance on GLEC competition also on Saturday.