By Gio Gaxiola — Reporter
The San Jose State Rocket League team suffered a setback this week. When it got swept by Boise State University 3-0 in the semifinal round of the Social Distancing Series..
The team also took part in the Collegiate Rocket League spring showdown and was knocked out in the first round by the University of Utah 3-2.
In the Social Distancing Tournament, the Spartans came out strong and had a commanding victory over the University of New Mexico.
Then the Spartans met the home standing Broncos. While SJSU beat the Broncos last week, it was BSU who had the last laugh this time around.
In a best of five game series, two out of the five games went into overtime. Yet the Spartans were unable to contain the Broncos’ offense. BSU had a game plan to contain “DD” during the match, which was a strategy that worked out for the Broncos.
After the defeat, the Spartans took part in the CRL spring showdown, where some of the best Rocket League teams from different universities came and threw down for cash prizes.
SJSU played three qualifying matches that day. The Spartans went a perfect 3-0, with victories over Tulsa, Washington State University and Arizona State University.
The team advanced and faced off against the University of Utah in the first round. While the Spartans were able to force a five game series, they eventually lost to the Utes 3-2.
“Tournament days can be tough,” said sophomore captain Daniel “DD” Wardo. “Some days we’ll play for over four hours.”
The wear of playing six games in the short timespan took a toll on the players.
“We have to try to play more scrimmages to help us out,” said Sophomore Jonathan “ItsJohnny” Lopez. “Looking at replays from games can also help us turn it around.”
After losing in the first round of the CRL spring showdown, the team will play in less tournaments moving forward to help deal with the wear of constantly playing the same game.
“Sometimes the best solution is to take a temporary step back, and so I’ve decided to change the frequency of our matches to be less often,” “DD” said. “I’m hoping this will drive the team to play more on their own time.”
Even though there will be less matches played, the team will still play matches on Twitch. Catch them on Tuesday nights taking part in BSU’s “Social Distancing Series” on Twitch.
Follow Gio on Twitter @GaxiolaGio
