Rochester, Mich -Â The Oakland Esports Rocket League team recently accomplished an amazing feat by being one of 32 teams in the country to qualify for Collegiate Rocket League (CRL).Â
CRL is the pinnacle of competition, open for all colleges and universities across North America, boasting a $100,000 scholarship prize pool. With tens of thousands of live viewers for each match, teams are split through an East and West conference system. Teams of their respective regions battle it out through an open qualifier system to gain an official spot among the top 16 teams of their conference.
This Fall, the Golden Grizzlies started off their season stronger than ever, and qualified with a 6-1 record, garnering wins against other top programs including Stockton, Davenport, and Ohio State.
Â
In last year's Fall season, the Golden Grizzlies came up just short of qualifying after losing to Northeastern in a harrowing game 5 decider. Last Spring, the Golden Grizzlies once again fell short of qualifying for CRL after a tough loss to Universite Laval.Â
This season is the first time in program history that Oakland has qualified for Fall CRL, having previously only qualified in the Spring. Leading the way for Oakland is freshman superstar Nicholas "Peep" Stief who averaged an astonishing 900 points in the final qualifying series against Stockton. The freshman also led the team in shot to goal conversion rate at 44%, adding four saves per game to his impressive statline.
Moving into the double-elimination format tournament, the Golden Grizzlies will now go up against the other top 16 teams in the Eastern conference and battle for a spot in the National Championships.
To watch the team compete be sure to follow the Oakland Esports Twitter for upcoming competition schedules and the Oakland Esports Twitch for live streaming of the competitions.
