An incredible season of Collegiate Rocket League came to a close in Minneapolis during the NCAA Final Four Fan Fest as the four best teams in CRL went head-to-head for the title of champion.

Thousands of fans tuned in to see who would take the CRL Spring Invitational Grand Championship trophy and saw some exciting matches full of excellent Rocket League play.

Semifinals: University of Akron vs. University of the Redlands

Tournament favorite Akron, led by team captain Buzz put on a stellar performance in the semifinals shutting out the Bulldogs as they cruised to a 3-0 finish.

Redland’s Jimbo ran into a wall anytime he attempted to make an offensive push against the Zips, who proceeded to dismantle the Bulldogs’ drives.

Akron put up a 4-0 finish in game one and a 1-0 finish in game two, followed by two more 4-0 finishes on their way to a dominating sweep of the series.

Semifinals: University of Central Florida vs. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

These teams looked evenly matched as they took the field ready to go. A close game one eventually fell to UC when snYpz found the back of the net to clinch a 1-0 victory.

UCF kept their momentum through game two, eventually taking it 2-1, but not until RPI tied it up, sending the contest into overtime.

RPI tightened up their play and fixed some midfield mishaps as they went into games three and four, putting up five goals to UCF’s two.

As the series seesawed into game five, UCF flipped the script and won that round 3-2 before RPI again reversed course in game six.

In the final game of the series, UCF scraped together a victory by a one goal margin, sending them to face the University of Akron in the finals.



Thanks for tuning in! Here are some of the highlights from the ELEAGUE #CRL19 Spring Invitational at #FinalFour Fan Fest 👏 pic.twitter.com/zAqSaTHKGi — ELEAGUE (@ELEAGUETV) April 7, 2019

Finals: University of Akron vs. the University of Central Florida

These teams fought hard throughout this season to make it to the finals and were prepared to leave it all on the pitch in pursuit of the championship and a slice of the $50,000 prize pool.

UCF started out the tournament on shaky ground, as they took a forfeit loss early, falling to the losers’ bracket, before climbing all the way back to the Southern Conference finals where they crushed Kennesaw State to punch their ticket to Minneapolis.

Akron’s season was filled with dominant performances, to be expected from a team that had already made an appearance on the national championship stage. Going into this match, they were ready to put their skill and experience to use again.

The Zips shot out of the gate with a commanding lead as Akron’s Salt put up three goals on their way to a game one shutout.

In another back-and-forth match, UCF took game two, Akron game three, and UCF game four, it seemed that both teams had each other’s rhythm and tempo locked in as each game became progressively harder to score.

Despite close matchups in game six and seven, it was Akron that located the chink in the Knight’s armor and secured narrow margin victories in the last two rounds to put away the series and walk away as champions.

With an overall goal tally of 11-5, the Zips capped their dominant reign this season, cementing their legacy and place as the premier team in Collegiate Rocket League.

Asked about the team’s victory by the University of Akron’s student newspaper, The Buchtelite, director of esports and head coach Michael Fay Jr. said, “It’s a tremendous honor to be able to represent UA on the national stage for the second time within the Esports program’s first year.”

“No other college Rocket League team in the nation has spent more time competing in an environment like the one that is provided at Akron or in front of a live audience and on a regular basis,” Fay said.

“I believe that our program’s ability to provide organizational support and analytical resources to build on the world-class talent these players bring to bear here at The University of Akron every day will go a long way to set them apart from the competition,” Fay said.

For now, the Zips can relax. But it’s never too early to start thinking about next year.

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