Sangamon Sun

Illinois College faced a challenging weekend in the second week of MEC competition, going up against Briarcliff University and the University of Illinois. The matches were competitive, with Illinois College showing strong performances despite ultimately losing both series.

In their match against Briarcliff University, Illinois College experienced a close contest. At the 20-minute mark of the first game, there was only a 200 gold differential. Players Peter Forman "255" and Noah Postin "TheDicey" gained early advantages leading to intense team fights. However, Briarcliff's Grandmaster player "Maces" effectively used split pressure with Camille and led his team to victory, as noted by Deadpool in a post-game interview.

The second game saw Illinois College securing an early gold lead until around the 14-minute mark. By the 20-minute mark, the gold differential remained narrow at just a few hundred. IC's jungler 255 delivered another solid performance, while Tristan Fissette "Loneforce" made impactful plays on Lux. Despite these efforts, Briarcliff outmaneuvered IC in team fights, resulting in a 0-2 loss for Illinois College.

Peter Forman "255" was named Coach's player of the game for this match.

In their subsequent match against the University of Illinois, Illinois College struggled to gain momentum and was outmatched in both games. Illini Esports featured several Grandmaster and Challenger players who executed their strategies with precision. Despite some promising moments from IC, particularly in game two where they kept the gold deficit within 2k around 15 minutes, they were unable to secure a win.

Kevin Tran "Sagewabe," playing Zeri, showed potential but was countered by Illini's Challenger player "lubheart," who successfully snowballed on Lucian to close out the game before Sagewabe could take over.

Kevin Tran "Sagewabe" received recognition as Coach's player of the game for this match.