The CRL Spring 2022 Season in full swing. We are now ⅕ of the way through League Play, and the stakes are higher than ever! The top 8 teams of League Play advance to the Playoffs, and the top 3 teams from Playoffs advance to the Spring Championship where they will play for seeding in the inaugural CRL World Championship. Every week matters as teams play every other team in the Conference to see who is Playoff material – and who is World Championship material.
East
In the East, Akron Zips, Northwood Blue, St. Clair Saints, and University of Central Florida went undefeated in their Week 1 matchups.
You may remember Akron as the National Champion of CRL Spring 2021, where their team of Buzz, Reticence, and .tristn took down the LSU Tigers in the West. Akron’s subsequent run in CRL Fall 2021 was rougher as they weren’t able to qualify for League Play with their roster shuffle. It looks like Spring is the season for Akron as their 2022 roster of Buzz, Reticence, and Fal qualified in their first attempt and took that momentum right into their Week 1 performance.
The current Northwood Blue roster contains 2 of the 3 players from last year’s National Champion, Northwood White. Former champions LionBlaze and Noxes are sitting in the sub spot while Buddy, Pirates, and HockE are slated to play most of the team’s matches. NW Blue have already played their week 4 match against UCF, where UCF beat them 3-1.
University of Central Florida makes consistent appearances in CRL League Play, but hasn’t been in Playoffs since Spring 2019. Luke upgraded from his sub position to join first year Azfura and sophomore Bambii to round out one of the youngest and freshest rosters this season.
The St. Clair Saints are coming back to the field after their first CRL appearance last Fall, where they finished 8th in League Play. They’re running the same roster this season, which makes them a strong contender for making top 8 again, or going even higher.
West
In the Western Conference we have University of Nevada Las Vegas, Columbia College, University of Texas at Arlington, and Missouri S&T going undefeated Week 1.
UNLV won the West Conference Playoff last season, but fell to Northwood and Columbia College in the National Championship. They’re tearing through League Play once again with their veteran players Garenn and NytroDryft, aided by their new addition in Tuv.
Columbia College sat at the top of the League Play leaderboard last season with 9 wins and 2 losses. They finished 3rd in the National Championship, and that success is carrying over to this season as they have been ranked #1 by the coach, caster, and community poll. Cam. stepped into the main roster from his previous sub spot, and that change hasn’t slowed CC down at all.
UT Arlington is making a return appearance with an identical roster. Last season they finished 6th in League Play, so the 3-0 record in Week 1 is a good sign for the future as the team continues to exercise their synergy.
MST is hopping back into CRL after not qualifying for Fall 2021 League Play. Burnie and Tyme are making a return appearance and bringing their new teammate Frostbite to the stage. A 3-2 series against the Braves almost took MST out as they traded games with the Braves and went to 2 overtimes. That W is a good sign for MST as long as they keep the pace they set for this week!
Looking ahead to Week 2
Week 2 will feature 20 streamed matches on both the Rocket League channel and the CCA channel. Check out the CRL Spring 2022 Mastersheet to find out where and when to cheer on your favorite teams!
