THE LOYOLA Gaming (LG) Blaze fell short against the University of San Carlos (USC) Mustang Warriors, 9-13, in their third group match of the Esports AcadArena (EAA) University Alliance Cup 2020 on October 31. The loss dropped LG Blaze to the second seed in the group standings with a 2-1 record.
At the start of the match, the Blue and White fell into an early 0-4 hole caused by the team’s unfamiliarity with the Ascent map and USC’s startling aggressiveness. However, LG Blaze mounted a comeback in the next few rounds highlighted by Dominic “LG Skwamy” Juan’s double kill in round five and a greatly timed triple kill in round eight.
In round nine, LG Blaze’s Miguel “Rikes” B. Ulanday continued the momentum for the Blue and White, blinding the opponent and bagging the double kill to cut the Mustang Warriors’ lead to one, 4-5. However, USC’s Keith Amirr “FireSaiyajiN” Madarang wreaked havoc in round 11 as he got an ace to cushion their lead, 4-7. LG Blaze nicked a round to enter the break down two rounds in the dying moments of the half, 5-7.
To kick off the second half of the match, Ignatius “1ge” Cu sparked a 2-0 run for LG Blaze which tied the game up at 7-7. However, this was the closest LG Blaze would get to cutting USC’s lead as a series of good plays and solid coordination from the Mustang Warriors allowed them to pull away in the next eight rounds. Ultimately, LG Blaze was handed their first defeat in the tournament with a final score of 9-13.
Despite the loss, Team Captain Cu remained positive as he emphasized the team’s key points for improvement. “Even though we lost, I feel like we did okay considering Ascent isn’t our best map. We won a lot of rounds because we played as a team. What we could’ve done in order to win the game was to not give them any respect, because we gave them too much space to do their thing, while we were getting pressure from everywhere,” said Cu.
LG Blaze will look to bounce back against the undefeated FEU Institute of Technology iTamaraws on November 7, 6:20 PM. Fans can stream the matches on https://www.twitch.tv/acadarenaph.
LG Blaze lineup:
Janver Hugo C. De Llamas – “flacko”
Joshua Miguel B. Ulanday -“Rikes”
Dominic Simeon Hebron Juan – “LG skwamy”
Louis Ignatius V. Cu – “1ge”
Raphael Santiago – “LG raphitb”
Jacy Iago Santos San Luis – “zigster”
