SFU was excited for their first match of the season. Most were excited to see newcomers to the Red Squad, Cicada and Emarii, and how they meshed with the experienced Red Squad members.
Game 1: Control
Round 1 Hero Choices:
- Cicada (Tank) - Wrecking Ball
- Cherry (Tank) - Reinhardt
- Chieftain (Damage) - Junkra
- Passione (Damage) - Reaper
- Frost (Support) - Mercy
- Emarii (Support) - Moria
Round one opened up with a control point map. SFU made a strong stand at the point, reaching a 99% control just as Bryant made a strong push back, taking control of the point with only a few seconds left. SFU makes a huge offensive play, taking round one of game one.
Round 2 Hero Choices:
- Cicada (Tank) - Wrecking Ball
- Cherry (Tank) - Winston
- Chieftain (Damage) - Junkrat
- Passione (Damage) - Reaper, later changed to Ashe
- Frost (Support) - Mercy
- Emarii (Support) - Moria
Bryant showed up in this round. The control point was highly contested, but Bryant played a major offensive push and took the early lead. SFU regrouped for an attacking push and were able to push Bryant out of the point and take control. Bryant pushes back and takes control at 45% control for SFU, eliminating three SFU players and leaving the rest of the team too weak to push back themselves. Bryant reaches 99% control and yet again SFU makes another strong push and takes control just in time. In the final seconds of the match, SFU makes a major stand, knowing that if they don't keep control, they could lose the round. Timing was everything in this match, with SFU's tanks pushing an offensive front with supports bringing up the back to keep their tanks at full health.
SFU took Game One with the 2-0 sweep of the control map.
Game 2: Escort
Round 1 Hero Choices:
- Cicada (Tank) - Roadhog
- Cherry (Tank) - Reinhardt
- Chieftain (Damage) - Junkrat
- Passione (Damage) - Ashe
- Frost (Support) - Ana
- Emarii (Support) - Mercy
Game two was an escort match. SFU was designated to defend the payload from moving across the map. Bryant made a quick first push on the payload, almost reaching the first checkpoint on the map. SFU made a huge stand at the payload, forcing Bryant to regroup and holding the payload just in front of the first checkpoint. Despite a strong effort from the Bulldogs, SFU was able to hold their ground and keep the payload from reaching the first checkpoint, taking round one.
Round 2 Hero Choices:
- Cicada (Tank) - Wrecking Ball
- Cherry (Tank) - Winston
- Chieftain (Damage) - Junkrat
- Passione (Damage) - Ashe
- Frost (Support) - Ana
- Emarii (Support) - Mercy
SFU was now on offense, pushing the payload. Passione was a major factor in this round, being able to create plenty of space for his teammates to work. Passione's efforts were coupled with Cicada's plays as Wrecking Ball sweeps with a string of eliminations in SFU's favor. Chieftain switched to Tracer to create a new tempo for another SFU push on the payload. As time expired, SFU was able to take the round.
Surpassing the Bulldog's distance allowed SFU to extend their lead in the match to 2-0.
Game Three: Assault
Round 1 Hero Choices:
- Cicada (Tank) - Zarya
- Cherry (Tank) - Reinhardt
- Chieftain (Damage) - Junkrat
- Passione (Damage) - Ashe
- Frost (Support) - Mercy
- Emarii (Support) - Baptiste
Bryant started off strong this game, and was able to take Point A during their first offensive round. As Bryant pushed to Point B, Cherry and Frost took an aggressive defensive approach and pushed through Bryant's front line to stop their momentum. Bryant was not able to recover after being stonewalled by our Rein and Mercy. SFU held Point B, and did not allow a single percentage point to the Bulldogs.
Round 2 Hero Choices:
- Cicada (Tank) - Zarya
- Cherry (Tank) - Reinhardt
- Chieftain (Damage) - Junkrat
- Passione (Damage) - Reaper
- Frost (Support) - Anna
- Emarii (Support) - Mercy
Round Two places the Red Flash on the offensive as they made quick work of Point A with an early team wipe as the Bulldogs were not able to recover to contest Point A. The Red Flash were able to ride this momentum after getting an early elimination during their march to Point B, which allowed SFU to begin their first push on Point B with an early advantage. This proved to be too much for the Bulldogs as their team was staggered and could not coordinate their ultimate abilities to contest Point B allowing SFU to take the point on their first push.
SFU completes the successful sweep over Bryant, taking the match 3-0.
When asked about the match, newcomer freshman Shannon (Cicada) Schmitt said, "I was anxious about joining a team that had already been playing together, but overall the match went better than I expected. I think we all played really well." Cicada was also named Co-Captain of the Red team for SFU.
Returning from last year is Co-Captain Miranda (Frost) Snyder. When asked about her new teammates Frost said, "I believe Cicada and Emarii are great additions to the team. We have only been playing together for a few weeks but we are already building synergy."
Program Director, Luke Trotz, had this to say about the match, "I was very confient for our Red team going into the match. The team chemistry was built very quickly during practice as Cicada and Emarii made their presence known on day one. I'm looking forward to seeing how far the Red squad will go this season."
SFU looks to keep the intensity and earn another win next Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at 8:00 PM EST.
