DANBURY, CT – ECAC announces its Player and Rookie of the Season from Fall 2022 competition.
Overwatch 2 Player of the Season – Konnor Fox, Muskingum University
Konnor is a tank player who dominated the scene. First coming into the ECAC he was a Platinum player, this season he hit t500.
Overwatch 2 Rookie of the Season – Ricky Orgill, Husson University
Ricky joined the Husson JV Overwatch 2 team and had to navigate many issues such as computers not opening the game and needing to play from home. Ricky quickly emerged as a leader on the team. After the Fall season there were talks about moving Ricky up to Varsity from JV but he decided that he wanted to be the captain for JV instead. Ricky is quickly developing excellent leadership skills and has been fantastic for Husson University esport.
VALORANT Player of the Season – Shane Gilbert, Post University
Dudesa – most known for his support play in Overwatch – made a swap to Valorant in the fall season. The swap, which is not easy to make, was done with ease. In 19 maps, Dudesa put up a 1.28 KDA while averaging 16.2 Kills/Assist per map. Dudesa, a true veteran of competitive gaming, took ownership of the captain role very seriously. He spent countless hours teaching himself and the rest of the team not only Valorant but also the ins and outs of collegiate esports. As the season progressed, Dudesa developed into the anchor and the “CLUTCH KING”. Dudesa is known most as someone who can, at any moment on any map, completely take over.
VALORANT Rookie of the Season – Nolan Picco, Post University
As a freshman competing in the collegiate scene for the first time, Mojo produced some impressive numbers. Throughout 19 maps, the Eagle’s Omen main put up a 1.14 KDA while averaging 16 kills/ assist a map. In addition to his performance in matches, he was working hard behind the scenes. Mojo was able to jump 2 full ranks while growing into a vocal leader. As the season progressed, Mojo was most known for crazy paranoia + shrouded step plays which is how he was able to dominate opponents and produce highlight reel plays.
Rocket League Player of the Season – Nicholas Laferte, Post University
Nazmyth joined Post University’s Rocket League team this season and immediately meshed perfectly with the established players. Cool, calm and collected on defense with deadly accurate shots on offense defined the freshman’s season helping Post to a 4th place finish in the Open Division. Posting an average of 422.9 points over 61 games and earning MVP honors in a staggering 45% of the games Post won – Naz made a statement this season.
Rocket League Player of the Season – Jonah Fletcher, Ball State University
For the second straight year, Zath tore up the ECAC Rocket League competition helping to lead the Cardinals to their second straight ECAC finals appearance. Zath led the team as the only returning player on this new Ball State roster. With his experience, the team dominated across the regular season not dropping a game in a series until the playoffs.
Rocket League Rookie of the Season – Nicholas Laferte, Post University
Nazmyth joined Post University’s Rocket League team and immediately meshed perfectly with the established players. Cool, calm and collected on defense with deadly accurate shots on offense defined the freshman’s season helping Post to a 4th place finish in the Open Division. Posting an average of 422.9 points over 61 games and earning MVP honors in a staggering 45% of the games Post won.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Player of the Season – Anthony Bombace, Fisher College
Tony is significant key to the Fisher College esports smash team. As the captain, Tony is always pushing his teammates to be better – he strives t improve the players around him and encourages those to pursue their goals. He is a fierce, and outstandingly moral competitor. It also helps that he leads the team in Stocks taken (400), Stocks/match (10.81) and unique characters in official matches (5).
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Player of the Season – Garrett Munson, Husson University
Garrett has been an incredible player who simply does not give himself as much credit as he deserves. Not only did he have a fantastic season in ECAC but he also represented Husson University esports traveling to local tournaments and even hosting a SSB series on campus. Throughout the season, Garrett did more than his fair share of cleanup work when he would be put in last with multiple players to beat. And when played first, he dominated including one match night where he completely swept another team by himself.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Rookie of the Season – Rin Gately, Husson University
Rin stepped up very quickly and secured a position on one of the JV team right away. Rin put in tons of practice time during off hours and it really payed off as the season progressed. Rin also helped other players out during these off schedule practices and was a big part of the positive culture for the team.
FIFA Player of the Season – Bruno Albino, Clarke University
Bruno transferred to Clarke this past Fall to compete on the FIFA team. He had high expectations to live up to, with the university winning the Spring ’22 Championship, and Bruno did not disappoint. Coming in as a rookie to the ECAC, Bruno finished the regular season in 12th place, only dropping two matches. From then on, he ran through the playoff bracket and not only took down some very strong teams, he took down the #1 seed to qualify for the championship. He swept in the Finals to make Clarke the back-to-back ECAC FIFA champions.
FIFA Rookie of the Season – Joe Mong’are, Kean University
Madden Player of the Season – Doug Crawford, Muskingum University
Madden Player of the Season – Nathan Nelson, Cumberland University
In his second season of playing competitive Madden for Cumberland University Esports, Nathan was able to lead the Phoenix to an ECAC Conference Championship. Nelson entered the playoffs as the #4 Seed after going 6-2 in the regular season. He was then able to battle through the competition and take home the Championship.
Madden Rookie of the Season – Alexander Alicea, Post University
Alex came into the season as a freshman and a multi-game athlete competing in both Madden and Valorant for Post. Despite being new to the University and competitive Madden he managed to secure a playoff spot in the Eagle’s inaugural Varsity Madden season.
NBA 2K Player and Rookie of the Season – John Bolton, Augustana College
John “Mr. Clean” Bolton had an incredible run to wrap up the season as runner-up in the NBA2k PS5 division in just his first season of esports competition. Mr. Clean is a dual-sport athlete as he is also a member of the Augustana Football team. Splitting time between football and esports meant that Mr. Clean would get done with football practice at 7:30pm and come straight to the esports facility for his 8pm game on Tuesdays. Playing competition with no warmup and tired from football he still finished the regular season 5-3 to claim the No. 11 seed. Playoffs were a different story as football season had wrapped up. Mr. Clean came into matches warmed up with a new level of energy and it paid off to get all the way to the championship match with dominating wins along the way in playoff gameplay. John “Mr. Clean” Bolton’s magical run through the ECAC NBA2k national tournament concluded as national runner-up after a 0-3 loss to the No. 1 seed Broke Boy Alex from North Carolina Wesleyan University. Bolton entered the postseason tournament as the No. 11 seed of the 25 player field after completing the regular season with a record of 5-3. Bolton started postseason play with a 2-0 victory over No. 22 Full Court Pacer of the University of South Carolina Aiken to advance to a round 2 meeting with No. 6 Double Knot also from the University of South Carolina Aiken. Bolton continued to roll through the tournament after successfully knocking off USCA for the second consecutive round to advance to the tournament elite eight. In the round of eight match Bolt dominated the No. 3 seed Psychic of Post University while showcasing a superior defense in a 2-0 sweep (Game 1: 46-41, Game 2: 50-15) to advance to meet the No. 2 seed Uncle Drew from the Southwestern Assemblies of God University in the final four. Bolton continued to roll through the tournament via another impressive defensive performance to knock out Uncle Drew in a three-game sweep.
League of Legends Player of the Season – Brad Gibbs, Ball State University
Second year competing – Brad changed roles from ADC to support, a role he had no competitive experience in, to help the team. His efforts and in game leadership helped lead the team to a 5-3 record and a 3rd seed in the A division playoffs. Going into the finals, the team was without ADC Blaster. Brad again switched roles back to ADC for the championship game leading the team to its second and back to back ECAC title.
League of Legends Rookie of the Season – Edward Daly, Saint Peter’s University
Ed showed the most potential and has grown so much from when he first started in the Fall Semester. Throughout the semester, he has learned to love the game while competing and was considered as the team’s carry towards the end of the semester. As a Freshman, we expect many things from his growing talents.
League of Legends Rookie of the Season – Jiwoo Choi & Remi Yi, Ball State University
Jiwoo and Remi joined Ball State this year traveling across the globe from Gen.G’s Elite Esports Academy in South Korea. Arriving in the US, both students had to make the transition of not only beginning college but to do so in another country and in their second language. Jiwoo quickly became one of the best players in NA reaching Challenger #52 on the ranked ladder and with his unmatched in game ability, he helped to lead the Cardinals to the ECAC championship. Remi, upon joining the team as the jungler, established himself as the team’s shot caller and was consistent in enabling his teammates to make plays around the rift and ultimately enabled his team to win the title in December.
Rainbow Six Player of the Season – Ethan Kenney, Husson University
Ethan was simply a dominant force for Husson’s Rainbow 6 team. No situation was too big for him, including multiple 1v4 clutches and overtime wins. Ethan is a massive reason why Husson University esports made playoffs and will only keep getting better as he continues playing.
Rainbow Six Rookie of the Season – Joey Staniger, Fisher College
Originally recruited as an OW talent, Robe has transformed himself into one of the top R6 talents and will be continuing with the team helping lead the team to future championships.
Halo Infinite Player of the Season – Chad Wuller, Fisher College
Halo Infinite Rookie of the Season – David Kamel, St. Mary’s University
The ECAC is an eighty-five year old organization with over 200 members schools across all three NCAA Divisions – I, II and III – that exists to enhance the experience of student-athletes participating in intercollegiate athletics, and provide great value for universities and colleges, by sponsoring championships, leagues, bowl games, tournaments and other competitions throughout the Northeast. The ECAC also hosts a comprehensive, national esports conference in partnership with CSMG and powered by LeagueSpot. More than 150 ECAC Esports member schools field over 1,100 teams across fourteen different games, played by over 10,000 competitors.