Moon, PA- Rocket League's journey to the main stage at Dreamhack Atlanta ends just one match short, and they have been eliminated from the NACE Collegiate Rocket League Playoffs. Robert Morris (11-3, #11 Overall) had their work cut out for them against the undefeated Missouri Tigers (13-0, #1 Overall). RMU was the representative who came out of Bracket C, and Missouri was the team who came out of Bracket A.

The match took place just minutes after RMU's thrilling upset victory over UT Dallas in a 3-2 Best of 5 series. While RMU held their own against the championship favorites in the first and third matches, it was not meant to be as the Colonials were swept 3-0.

Game 1: RMU Loses 3-2

Game 1 was the Colonials best chance at getting one over the Tigers, who had only dropped a game once all season. Team captain Slurpe (Ryan Conti) got Robert Morris on the board early to give them the lead early. He launched a shot from deep in his own zone seeing all three Tigers players charging up field. The ball floated past all of them and found its way into the unguarded net.

Missouri fought themselves back in it with back to back goals to take a 2-1 lead. The Tigers rotations were spot on almost all match and were able to win 50/50 battles because of it. Yet, the Colonials did not allow the game to get away from them. Slurpe buried his second of the match to make it a 2-2 game with a couple minutes to go. Missouri got one late though and took the 3-2 win, and 1-0 series lead.

Game 2: RMU Loses 4-1

After their Game 1 loss Robert Morris seemed to come out flat in the second game. Missouri scored early to make it a 1-0 game and held that lead for much of the game. RMU could not get anything going on offense in this one, getting outshot 15-4 in Game 2.

Missouri added another 3 goals in the final two minutes of the match. The Tigers ability to effectively shoot from anywhere on the pitch made it difficult for RMU all series long. Reprivation (Michael Campbell) scored the Colonials lone goal with less than 10 seconds left in the match.

Game 3: RMU Loses 2-0

Robert Morris found themselves in an 0-2 hole, but they did have a bit of history that evening to suggest not all was lost. The Colonials were already 2-0 that night in potential elimination games, having took Games 4 and 5 against UT Dallas when their backs were against the wall. Even though the Tigers took an early lead, RMU looked sharper in Game 3 than in Game 2.

They just could not get a shot to go. Missouri's defense was always was able to make the stop when they needed it. As time ticked away, RMU went full attack mode trying to find the equalizer. Mizzou countered with a long shot that no one was back to cover for, and made it 2-0 with 27 seconds left. While it did happen on this play, Captain_IceFire (Chris Willard) made 7 saves in the series, and 2 in this game.

That's how the game and series would conclude. Missouri will now head to Dreamhack Atlanta was one of the two league finalists. However, it was a great season for Robert Morris. They finished with an overall 11-4 record, including a 4-1 playoff record. They qualified for the Final Four in their first season of NACE competition. They even picked up some major wins along the way, including victories over Lebanon Valley College, Northwood University, and the University of Texas at Dallas.

The team will resume play soon in the Collegiate Star League, and their streams will continue to be found at twitch.tv/rmucolonials.

Alexander Gagnon '21
Club Sport Information Director