The St. Lawrence University esports team claimed its first win since becoming a varsity team on Wednesday night, defeating Providence College 3-0 in a best-of-five ECAC Overwatch match.

The Saints dominated every stage of play to move to 1-1 on the season. 

St. Lawrence earned the first point of the match with a sweep in a best-of-three control map challenge at Lijiang Tower. The Saints took the control point early, running their meter up to 51% before Providence could respond. The Friars then took a small 59-51 lead before the Saints were able to regain control to win the first contest.

On the second run at Lijiang Tower, Providence gained control of the point early, but the Saints overtook the Friars quickly and never relinquished control for a 100-15 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Sam Putney (SputnikGT) earned Play of the Game honors for his performance at Lijiang Tower.

The second point in the match was held on the Watchpoint: Gibraltar payload map. The Saints breezed through all three checkpoints, finishing with 3:01 left on the clock, while the Friars struggled to get going, needing overtime to get through the first and third checkpoints. Providence was able to move the payload 60.95 meters in the one minute they had remaining in the third round before St. Lawrence stopped them at a chokehold, then the Saints easily matched the Friars with plenty of time to spare to take a 2-0 lead.



The third and final point of the match was held on the Volskaya Industries assault map. The Saints opened on defense and did not allow Providence to even reach the control point. St. Lawrence clinched the win by gaining control of the point for a few seconds when they became the attacking team. Jason Angelos (neonJason) earned his second Play of the Game honor of the week for St. Lawrence.

The Saints will return to National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) competition on Thursday night, facing Texas A&M San Antonio at 8 p.m.

"The team's focus on improving communication, particularly their target shot-calling and ultimate management, made all the difference tonight," said St. Lawrence Overwatch coach  Kyle Jicha. "We're looking forward to carrying this momentum into our second NACE match tomorrow."

St. Lawrence Lineup
Jason Angelos (neonJason)
Conner Black (SLU)
Aoife Currie (TransRights)
Gavin Prescott (Hardvark)
Sam Putney (SputnikGT)
Brian Uceta (Drizzle)