IC Esports Rocket League Team Open Calendar Year Defeating Cornell 3-1

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - The Illinois College Esports Rocket League team opened the 2024 season Wednesday night defeating Cornell College by the score of 3-1 in Meraki Gaming Center. The team was able to overcome two overtime victories in games two and four that helped earn the victory.

Game 1: Illinois College 0, Cornell College 3
In the first match of the night, Cornell came out very aggressive on offense with 10 shots on goal. IC battled Cornell but fell short by the final score of 0-3 as the Rams took game one. 

Game 2: Illinois College 3, Cornell College 2
IC quickly responded with an overtime thrilling 3-2 victory that tied the standings at one game apiece. In the game, IC was led by Josh Hallanger with two goals on four shots while Dwight Duijneveld also found the back of the net that in the victory.   

Game 3: Illinois College 2, Cornell College 1
In the third game, IC took the series edge with a 2-1 victory as the goals was scored by Hallanger and first-year dual-sport athlete Glenn Conway.     

Game 4: Illinois College 3, Cornell College 2
The toe-to-toe battled continued in game four as IC and Cornell forced overtime at two goals apiece. In regulation time, IC earned goals from Duijneveld and Hallanger. In the overtime period, IC clinched the series at the game time of 7:13 on a goal scored by Conway.    

Individual Stats:
For the match, first-year Hallanger was named the Most Valuable Player of the match with four goals, two assists, and six saves. Duijneveld recorded a scoreline of two goals, four assists, and eights saves. Conway earned a scoreline of two goals and three saves.    

"After the conclusion of the match, Hallanger was interviewed and gave a lot of praise for his teammates setting him up and as well as his coach for getting the team on the same page" said Head Coach David Seering.

The Esports Rocket League team will be back in action on Thursday, February 1 facing Cleveland State University at 5:45PM.