On Saturday afternoon, the Saints Overwatch team fell to the SUNY Canton Roos in what would be a game that tied the record for longest Overwatch game played by the Saints. In the same fashion as Missouri Western State University two weeks prior, the Saints took the Roos through a six-game series culminating in the Saints loss of 2-3-1.
Having lost to the Roos in the regular season, the Saints were itching for a chance at payback, and they were looking incredibly strong in the first game at Lijiang Tower. It was the Saints that scored first by winning at the night market 100-37. The Roos then retaliated with a point of their own, taking the Control Center 60-100. The Lijiang Gardens were the last point for the King of the Hill map. Both teams vied hard for the first match point. With the capture point tied, it came down to an enormous stall thanks to Sam "SputnikGT" Putnek and Gabriel "Six" Sickler buying the rest of the Saints enough time to take the point back after a long battle 100-99.
The second game was the escort map Dorado. The Saints began on defense, and had a strong hold before the first checkpoint. With only a minute left to go, the Roos broke the defense, and rode the momentum through the first two checkpoints. With a strong ultimate from SUNY Canton's Winston, they took the third checkpoint as well. However, the Saints remained undeterred. On offense, the Saints mowed down the Roos and made great headway through the first two checkpoints. They got a bit stifled on the third checkpoint, but it was the Play of the Game from Jason "neonJason" Angelos who swept the Roos away giving the Saints their third checkpoint. With the game in extra time, the Saints were able to stop the Roos advance before the first checkpoint. Then, the Saints easily pushed the payload as far as SUNY Canton did to claim their second match point.
It was at the assault map, Volskya Industries where the momentum began to shift away from the Saints. The Saints began on defense and they struggled to find an advantageous position to blunt the early offensive momentum generated by the Kangaroos. The Roos were able to take both Objectives A and B in quick succession with over four minutes to spare. When the Saints switched to offense, they struggled to take the first objective. They were only able to get Objective A after using all their ultimates with ninety seconds remaining. Without the ultimate advantage the Saints could not snowball and failed to capture any of Objective B. The Roos scored their first match point.
The fourth map for the match was the favorite hybrid choice of the Saints, King's Row. The Saints started on offense, and were able to capture Objective A with over a minute-forty to spare. They made good headway with the payload gettinng many picks along the way. The Saints stalled out for a bit before taking the checkpoint, but they eventually got it, and found space to make it to the end checkpoint as well. Unfortunately, the Saints defense could not hold up as well as the offense did. The Roos captured the checkpoint fast enough to force the Saints into an unwinnable position. In extra time, the Saints could only draw at best. Fortunately, the Saints were able to hold the Roos off and force the draw.
The Saints were still looking for a match win on the fifth map which was the King of the Hill stage, Nepal. There was plenty of back and forth. The Saints fought hard all the way to the end, but gave the first point 100-99. The second point was in the Nepal Village, and the Roos commanded an early lead. They took the point to 86% before the Saints rallied to take it for themselves. However, the Roos came back with a flurry of ultimates to take their second match point 68-100.
The final stage for the match was the escort map, Junkertown. The Saints began on defense and pulled off an impressive hold before the first checkpoint. The Roos were consistently repelled with each advance until Overtime where the Roos rallied to take the cart to the first checkpoint. After that, the Saints struggled to regroup and ran out of momentum. The Roos took the remaining two checkpoints with little resistance. The Saints then switched to offense, but struggled to find the same kind of space. Even though their dive composition got the first checkpoint quickly, they were stifled before the second checkpoint. The Saints fought hard, but it was there that their season ended. Despite the loss, the Saints appeared to be satisfied with their season overall. Coach Kyle Jicha had this to say, "I'm so proud of the team and all they were able to accomplish this season. We did a lot of rebuilding, with half of our roster new or changing to new roles at the season start. It was a big hill to climb, but the team was so dedicated and diligent. Our performance this match against SUNY Canton, even though we lost, was just so great to see. After having lost to their JV team only a few weeks prior, then to pull ourselves up and put on such a strong performance against their varsity team really felt like validation. We were so close to victory at so many moments. It was clear that each and every player was putting their all into it, like they had something to atone for. It was palpable. Ultimately bittersweet, but absolutely fantastic work and a match I won't forget anytime soon."
