The Keyano Huskies Esports Rocket League finished 2nd place in the NACE Starleague Varsity Premier Grand Finals
(Fort McMurray, AB – December 8, 2022) - The Keyano Huskies Esports Rocket League team competed against Northwood University in the NACE Starleague Varsity Premier Grand Finals. The Starleague, hosted by the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), is North America's largest, all-encompassing collegiate esports tournament.
The Varsity Premier tournament is open only to the best NACE member schools in the continent. The Keyano Huskies decimated the regular season, finishing 2nd place in the Western Conference. They battled their way through the Last Chance Qualifier bracket to qualify for playoffs, where they took down other dominant teams, such as West Virginia University (4-3) and Mizzou (4-1), to progress to the Grand Finals, making them one of two remaining teams in the Varsity Premier competition.
The team fought hard against Northwood University, the reigning Collegiate Rocket League (CRL) World Champions. Despite a tough finishing score-line, the individual games in the series were close. The Huskies left Philadelphia as NACE Finalists, finishing in 2nd place overall out of all the Varsity Rocket League programs in the continent.
“It feels really good to make it,” says Jared Greenwood, starting player for the Rocket League team. “We beat quality teams to get here. West Virginia is a good team, and Missouri swept us in the last series of the CRL season.”
“The success of this Rocket League roster has put Keyano Esports on the map. They’re the first team from Western Canada to qualify for CRL. They’re ranked #1 in Canada on the Esport Canada power rankings. Now, having placed Top 2 in the continent out of all Varsity programs, we are no longer just the best in the country. We’re becoming one of the best in the world. They’ve accomplished all of this in such a short period, and I am incredibly proud of what they’ve achieved,” said Shadi Hanna, Head Coach of Keyano Huskies Esports.
“It is amazing that our team competed with collegiate Esport “powerhouse” Northwood University and on an international stage. We are so impressed with the level of achievement of our Esports program and how much it has grown over a short period of time here at Keyano,” said Jonathan Lambert, Director, Athletics & Recreation.
President & CEO Jay Notay added, “I am so proud of this team and how professional they were representing the College. This is an incredible accomplishment, and success like this will grow the program and create more opportunities for our student-athletes.”
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