The 2024-25 Blinn College esports campaign kicked off on a positive note Monday as the Buccaneer Rocket League team defeated Cleary University 3-1 in a best-of-five series.
Blinn earned the victory to open play in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Varsity Premier league with a 1-0 record.
“We kicked off the season with a strong performance, as we came out of the gate with a commanding 5-1 win in the first match to assert our dominance early on,” Bucs assistant coach and Rocket League manager Kyle Murto said. “We lost our focus a bit in the second match, but we collected ourselves and controlled the final two matches, winning 4-0 and 3-1 to seal the series.”
Competing for Blinn were sophomores and Braeden Pomeroy and freshman Cody Lamar.
Pomeroy and Lamar were victorious in their first collegiate esports match.
“It was a solid start to the season, and although we have a long road ahead with some tough competition on the horizon, this is exactly the kind of opening I was hoping for,” Murto added. “I want to give a special shoutout to Cody and Braeden, who performed exceptionally well in their first-ever match representing Blinn. I know their nerves were a little high, but they really performed at the level I expect from them.”
Blinn’s Rocket League team will compete in six more regular-season NACE matches this fall, starting with a tilt against Northern Kentucky University at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 16.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 national championships since 1987.
