By Wyatt Crosher, Assistant Director of Communications for Student Affairs

Charlotte Esports’ Rocket League team came home with top honors in December’s National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) Division II Fall Championships, the first NECC win in program history.

Charlotte finished off an undefeated run through the tournament with a 4-1 victory over Cleveland State University, the final achievement for the team composed of Charlotte students Ishaq “Lazy” Al-Khatib, Eyoale “ballah” Yared and Nick “Night” Greco.

"I am so proud of the team and all that they were able to accomplish this past season,” Ian Escalante, Charlotte Esports program director, said. “We had some great games, and were able to finish strong. It's been a long journey with this squad and I'm so glad we were able to bring home the win for our community."

Rocket League is a team-oriented game based around vehicular soccer, using "rocket-powered" cars to hit a ball into the opposing goal. The game has been around since 2015 and continues to be a prominent competitive esport. 

The NECC Division II Fall Championship tournament hosted a total of 16 teams in the opening group rounds, where teams competed for eight tournament spots. Charlotte held a 4-3 record in the East A group and earned a No. 5 seed for the tournament. From there, Charlotte ran the table, not losing a single match in the double-elimination format with victories over Kennesaw State University (score of 4-3), top-seeded University of South Carolina (4-1) and the University of Florida (4-2).

The championship against Cleveland State took place on Dec. 3. The team competed from the Esports & Gaming Arena in the Popp Martin Student Union. After losing the first match of the Best of 7, Charlotte rallied to win the next four and win the tournament.

Rocket League is one of five varsity esports that compete under Charlotte Esports, with the others being League of Legends, Overwatch, Rainbow Six Siege and Valorant. Spring rosters will soon be announced for each of these respective teams.

For more information about esports at UNC Charlotte, as well as the Charlotte Esports & Gaming Arena, go to the Charlotte Esports website.