The Blinn College Call of Duty team had one mission this spring: Repeat as national champions.
Thanks to a victory 3-2 over Brookdale Community College on Tuesday, the Buccaneers will get their chance to do just that.
Behind the play of Michael Allen, Logan Rivera, Isaias Nieto, and Tanner Gore, Blinn earned a victory in the best-of-five semifinal match in the NJCAA Esports (NJCAAe) Call of Duty National Tournament.
“What a thrilling match that was, I may have lost some hair,” said Bucs assistant coach and Call of Duty manager Ryan Lucich. “We knew it would be another great series after we squeezed out a 3-2 win against Brookdale last week.”
Blinn defeated Brookdale 3-0 in the semifinal round of the NJCAA Esports Call of Duty Regional Playoffs on April 10, but got all it could handle from the Jersey Blues.
The Bucs trailed 2-1 in match points heading into the fourth map of play but pulled out a 250-240 victory to even the series.
“My players were able to take that momentum and energy to dominate map 5 for a 6-1 victory to send us to the national title,” Lucich added.
Blinn will now take on Central Community College for the national title at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23. The Bucs defeated Central for the NJCAAe national championship in the fall but fell to the Raiders in the title match of the regional tournament on April 13.
“We’re looking forward to rematching Central in the championship to defend our title,” said Lucich. “We know what we need to fix since the last time we played, and if we come out with the same energy and confidence as today, we can definitely take them.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 47 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
