St. Lawrence’s Overwatch Esports team is headed to nationals for the first time in program history after winning the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) northeastern division title.
The team secured its spot in the national tournament after beating Thomas College 4-1 last week in the conference finals.
“The northeastern Esports conference is among the most competitive in the country, so to come out on top of that speaks well to the culture and talent we’ve fostered here,” says Esports Head Coach Kadin deRuijter.
Overwatch isn’t the only Esports team in the post-season. Rocket League is also headed to nationals via an automatic bid after finishing first in seasonal standings. League of Legends qualified for nationals, too, via seasonal points, but lost in the quarterfinals to Robert Morris University last week to end their post-season campaign.
Before this year, none of St. Lawrence’s Esports teams had qualified for nationals; this year, three have earned their spot. The Esports program as a whole finished the regular season with a 22-13 record—the best-ever since the varsity program began in 2021.
DeRuijter attributes the blossoming of the University’s Esports program to the welcoming, friendly, and competitive culture that has been created with the help of standout leaders like Overwatch team captain Joshua Kobayashi ’28.
“Josh holds his teammates to a high standard and always tries to be a good leader,” deRuijter says.
The first-year from Hawaii says his goal this year was simply to raise the standards of the Overwatch program, adding that it was “a good surprise” to win the conference championships.
“It’s nice to see the momentum we have heading into nationals, but also heading into the future of our program at St. Lawrence,” he says.
As for how the team is feeling before its first-ever nationals appearance?
“We’re feeling confident,” Kobayashi says. “Really confident.”
Overwatch will face Thomas College in the Round of 16 on Friday, April 25, at 6 p.m. Rocket League is scheduled to face University of Montana on Thursday, April 24, at 8 p.m. You can watch both games live on the St. Lawrence University Twitch page.
