Gee-Gees put away Sault Cougars 4-2 in final series
On March 22, the University of Ottawa Esports club made its mark with a championship performance in the Ontario Post Secondary Esports League (OPSE).
After making their way to the finals of the OPSE Rocket League, the Gee-Gees came out victorious over the Sault College Cougars 4-2 in a best of seven series.
Finishing tied for first place after regular season play, the Gee-Gees only had two losses under their belt.
Jean-Daniel ‘Solize’ Proulx, a player on the team, attributed turning those losses into motivation for the team’s success.
“We started practicing more regularly, and I think that’s what produced good results,” Solize said.
“Whenever we got beat by another team — or almost got beat — it motivated us to be better and address our flaws.”
With a promising regular season record, the team did not slow down during the playoff season. On route to the finals, they beat Concordia University, Queen’s University, the University Toronto, and Lambton College before meeting Sault College in the final game.
Raymond ‘Hexki’ Octavious, who contributed a consistent stream of goals through the playoffs, explained that the team focussed on playing the way they practiced.
“We knew we could take down any team in the league as long as we stuck to our game plan and had a positive mindset,” Hexki said.
The Gee-Gees opened up the championship series with a quick goal from Julien ‘JChan’ Chan.
The Gees made it a 6-0 lead with goals from across the roster before Sault could find the back of the net. The U of O easily secured game one.
In game two, it was the Cougars who pocketed the first goal. Stronger defence prevented the Gee-Gees from finding a lead, but with 3:04 left on the clock, Solize tied the game up at 2-2.
It was Hexki who scored next, earning the game two win for the Gee-Gees.
Game three wasn’t as hot for the U of O, and while the Gees were the first to put points on the board, the Cougars went on a run to close out the game 5-2 and earn themselves a win in the best of seven series.
The next game looked much like the first with the Gee-Gees piling up goals. JChan put up four to secure a 6-1 win for the U of O.
Sault held on though, despite facing a match point situation, and limited the U of O to only three goals. The Cougars took game five to send the series to game six.
A single goal was all that was on the scoreboard and enough for the U of O to claim the win.
Winning the series 4-2 over Sault, the Gee-Gees not only earned the championship title but the players earned scholarship money that goes towards their tuition or payments towards student loans.
