Bruins bounce Bulldogs to reach North Conference Playoffs

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University League of Legends eSports team recovered from an early deficit to defeat the University of Minnesota-Duluth, 2-1, in the RIOT College League of Legends Tournament to reach the North Conference Playoffs.

Bellevue improves to 9-3-1 in competitive matches and 5-1 in RIOT College LoL North Conference play.

For reaching the Playoffs, each BU competitor is guaranteed at least $1,000 in the form of a scholarship from RIOT.

Up Next:

Bellevue is scheduled to travel to Des Moines, Iowa for the Global eSports Classic on Saturday-Sunday, Mar. 3-4 where they will compete against area college teams in an event similar to the recently completed Midwest League of Legends Open in Wichita, Kan.

RIOT North Conference Playoffs:

Eight teams have qualified for the RIOT North Conference Playoffs; Bellevue, Cincinnati, Columbia (Mo.), Kansas State, Lourdes, Manitoba, Maryville, and Miami (Ohio).

The Playoffs will be single-elimination with matches played as a Best-of-5. Matches are scheduled to take place on Mar. 10 (Quarterfinals), Mar. 24 (Semifinals), and Apr. 7 (Championship).

Match-ups will be announced Wednesday, Feb. 28 with Bellevue planning to stream their matches via the Bellevue eSports Twitch Page. (https://www.twitch.tv/bellevueuniversityesports)

Match Lineup:

• Top Lane: Xu Xie "Sam" (abcabcabc)
• Jungle: Weirong Cai "Gavin" (IncredibleGom)
• Mid-Lane: Dylan Guidichessi (MercyLM)
• AD Carry: Gabriel Eckenroth (BU Tea Full)
• Bottom Lane: Chengyun Xue "Ray" (Raay)

Bellevue 2, Minnesota-Duluth 1

Game One: Minnesota-Duluth def. Bellevue

The first game started slow with all lanes focusing on farming; there were no early ganks (ambushing to kill or push an objective) or lane pressures by either side. UMD ganked top first to secure first blood on abcabcabc, however, both UMD's Jungler and Top-Laner had to use their Flash Summoner spell which requires a five-minute cooldown, a trade-off BU was willing to accept. The Bulldogs' Jungler ganked bottom lane and killed Raay which, combined with many UMD lane pressures early on gave them an early gold lead.

UMD again struck with a four-man gank in the bottom lane to take out BU Tea Full and Raay. They followed up by taking the first dragon as well.

Momentum began to swing when Bellevue took out the UMD Mid-Laner with a gank from IncredibleGom which was followed up by a five-man gank into the Bulldogs' bottom lane where BU secured and additional five kills, acing the UMD team. After securing the first turret following the team fight Bellevue captured the rift herald and took out four of UMD's five members with an engage by abcabcabc on three of their players. This shifted the gold lead to Bellevue's favor by about 7,000.

The Bruins made a risky play, attempting to secure the UMD baron but ended up losing their baron in the process. This restored the Bulldogs' advantage and allowed them to push the mid-lane turret. The game stalled out, allowing UMD the chance to both farm and scale. Bellevue secure the second baron, reset, and rotated to push the mid-lane. Abcabcabc was integral in sacrificing himself to give the rest of the team enough time to take down UMD's baron. Bellevue pushed the second inner bottom turret and secured that objective.

As the game got late BU rotated lanes and began their push down all three lanes to try and secure the remaining turrets. UMD pushed back and responded with an engagement in Bellevue's mid-lane where the Bruins attempted to answer but abcabcabc was killed. Minnesota-Duluth took the third turret in the mid-land as well as the inhibitor-spawning super minions. The Bulldogs secured the elder dragon, giving them increased stats from dragons previously captured, before continuing to siege the bottom land, securing the third turret and inhibitor, then methodically took the third baron and pushed for the win.

Game Two: Bellevue def. Minnesota-Duluth

Bellevue opened the second game strong by bullying the UMD bottom lane out of his lane before going on to secure first blood in the mid-land when IncredibleGom ganked the Bulldogs' Mid-Laner. UMD's Jungler attempted to gank abcabcabc but was unsuccessful, as abcabcabc countered by picking up a double kill.

UMD answered with a gank in the bottom lane as their AD Carry picked up a kill. They secured the first infernal dragon which gave all five players permanent increased ability power and attack damage. UMD's Jungler attempted a gank on MercyLM but IncredibleGom was there to counter-gank and MercyLM secured a kill.

Bellevue later pushed the bottom lane, picking up an additional two kills and securing the first tier turret. The bulldogs responded by capturing the rift herald which they spawned in the bottom lane and rotated to the mid-lane where they took the first tier mid-lane turret.

Minnesota-Duluth erred by over-extending in their attempt ot take the second infernal dragon instead of resetting and, as a result, ended up conceding the dragon after taking it to very low health. Bellevue attempted to capture the baron and UMD responded but were ultimately killed which extended BU's gold lead to 9,000. The Bruins baited out the baron and killed four UMD players as they approached the baron pit to answer. Bellevue secured the baron following that team fight and pushed mid-lane for the win.

Game Three: Bellevue def. Minnesota-Duluth

With a spot in the playoffs on the line in the third game both teams started tentatively, wanting to avoid a mistake due to the magnitude of the match. IncredibleGom struck first with a failed gank in the mid-lane before Raay secured first blood in a 2-on-2 skirmish to give BU the early lead.

Moving to the middle portion of the game, Bellevue secured the infernal dragon, killing both the UMD Jungler and Mid-Laner in the process. Minnesota-Duluth answered with a couple kills of MercyLM and Raay. UMD tried to gank Bellevue's bottom lane but their Jungler fell as the hands of BU Tea Full. Bellevue then secured the first turret in the bottom land and continued to capture additional objectives in the UMD jungle. The Bulldogs struck back with a 1-v-1 solo kill by their Top-Laner. With Bellevue's Top-Laner down, UMD attempted to take the second infernal dragon but had it stolen by IncredibleGom.

Bellevue then killed the UMD Mid-Laner and Jungler before the Bulldogs responded with kills of MercyLM and IncredibleGom. Despite that, BU came out ahead following the skirmish after having captured the second infernal dragon. Bellevue rotated top, ganked the UMD Mid-Laner, and secured the top turret. Another rotation saw BU secure the rift herald which they used to push the mid-lane. Minnesota-Duluth responded by pushing the Bruin mid-lane and securing their first turret. Bellevue made a 2-for-1 trade by taking out UMD's Jungler who got caught in a jungle skirmish as well as their Mid-Laner while the Bruins lost just IncredibleGom.

The Bruins set their sights on the third dragon and baron, securing both objectives. The Bulldogs tried to force a fight under the BU turret in the mid-land, ultimately getting aced which allowed Bellevue to push both the mid- and top-lanes where they captured two turrets and an inhibitor. Bellevue didn't let off the gas and caught UMD out of position allowing the Bruins to push for the win.