CHICAGO – Saint Xavier University Esports sent three teams to South Bend, Ind. over St. Patrick's Day weekend to compete in the Pilot Invite hosted by Bethel University (Ind.). Overwatch, Rocket League (RL) and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (SSBU) all saw action in multiple games for the Cougars. In the round-robin portion of the tournament on Friday, Overwatch defeated Albion College (Ohio) by a 2-1 decision, and they lost to Bethel and Muskingum University (Ohio) by 2-1 scored in both matches. With the No. 4 seed in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning, the Overwatch squad fell to Albion, 3-0.

Rocket League also competed in a round-robin on Friday afternoon. They lost to Western Michigan University, 3-0, and to No. 27 Oakland University (Mich.), 3-1, before defeating Indiana Tech University in five games, 3-2. In the quarterfinals on Saturday morning, the trio from RL was upended by No. 28 Grand Valley State University (Mich.), 3-1, in the best-of-five contest.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate played seven games in the round-robin format, coming up short in all seven matches. SSBU lost to Oakland, Albion, Michigan State University, Muskingum, Bethel, Western Michigan and Grand Valley State in head-to-head matches by a 1-0 score. With the No. 8 seed in the finals, SXU lost to Muskingum 2-0 in the best-of-three matchup.

Rocket League:

• Rocket League features a 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)
• The RL team was in action going back to last month, defeating Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) by a 3-0 score in a Great Lakes Esports Conference (GLEC) contest on February 16.
• They also defeated Valparaiso University (Ind.) in GLEC action on February 17 with a 3-1 victory.
• Saint Xavier extended its winning streak with a sweep of Cleveland State University (Ohio), 3-0, on February 28 in a GLEC contest. They ran their GLEC streak to four matches with a 3-0 triumph over Anderson University (Ind.) on March 2.

Overwatch:

• The Overwatch team has a five-person lineup of 'alphabet' sophomore William Barquero Roma (Miami, Fla./Archimedean Upper Conservatory), 'Twifts' senior Malachi Beard (Evergreen Park, Ill./Evergreen Park), 'Citronboss27' sophomore Michael Guzaitis (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) and 'Glocktopus' senior Michael Hamm (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence).
• On February 16, they took down Olivet Nazarene in a GLEC match by a 3-0 margin and the group followed that with a 3-0 win over Manchester University (Ind.) on February 20.
• They fell to Bethel by a 3-1 score in a GLEC contest on February 23 before bouncing back with a 3-0 GLEC win over Trine University (Ind.) on February 24.
• Overwatch traveled to Lisle, Ill. to take part in the Midwest Esports Invite on February 24. In pool play, they defeated Marquette University (Wis.), 2-0, followed by 2-0 losses to Illinois Wesleyan University, Coe College (Iowa), University of Cincinnati (Ohio) and Northern Illinois University. The squad toppled Lakeland University (Wis.), 3-0, in round one of the tournament, but lost to Cincinnati by a 3-0 score and was eliminated by College of DuPage (Ill.) by a 2-0 decision.
• A pair of wins were added to the win column this past Saturday afternoon as SXU had a forfeit win over GLEC foe Defiance College (Ohio) and they took down University of Mount Union (Ohio) with a 3-0 sweep to notch a GLEC win.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate:

• The four-person lineup for SSBU for the Cougars has '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).
• In a GLEC doubleheader on February 23, they lost to Muskingum and Valparaiso by 2-0 finals.
• SXU came away with a 2-1 victory over Trine in a GLEC contest on February 24, they were edged by Tiffin University (Ohio), 2-1, in GLEC action on February 29 and they suffered a 2-0 setback to Manchester on March 9 in a GLEC match.

League of Legends:

• The League of Legends crew of of 'Moochi' junior Xavier Bryant (Rockford, Ill./Boylan Catholic), 'dmshadow' senior Daniel Mendez (Chicago, Ill./Daley/Spry Community Links), 'SomethingCool' sophomore Ahmed Osman (Chicago, Ill./Illinois-Chicago/Park House), 'WHAT U GOT' junior Armend Shabani (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and 'Acrylik' freshman Charlie Zufan (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) was in action at the start of March.
• Saint Xavier, competing in the College League of Legends North Division, lost to University of Kansas by a score of 2-0 on March 2 and they earned a 2-0 triumph over University of Wisconsin Milwaukee on March 9.

Saint Xavier (53-66, 30-19 GLEC) is in the stretch run of their regular season with Overwatch, RL & SSBU in action over the next two weeks before postseason competition begins in April.