Over the past week, eight of the top College Rocket League teams battled it out for their shot at the CRL Spring Showdown Championship, and their share of the $50,000 prize pool. Starting in the East, both higher seeds prevailed as (1) Akron defeated (5) Michigan 3-0, while (6) UCF took down (7) NOVA 3-0 as well. UCF however was unable to keep their momentum rolling into the Semi-Final as Akron took them down 4-1 and re-established themselves as the East champions.
The top team in the West followed Akron’s lead as (1) LSU easily passed (5) Cal Poly A with a 3-0 scoreline, while it was (3) Oregon who upset (2) Arizona in a tight 3-1 series. Oregon had many tough matches to make it this far but were able to overcome a tough attack from Arizona to punch their ticket to the top four. Oregon has shown their promise many times throughout the past few seasons of CRL, but had yet to truly prove it in a series that mattered. With this win Oregon really showed that they are a potential juggernaut in the Western Conference. Unfortunately this would be as far as they go as LSU were able to match Akron once more and beat Oregon by a similar 4-1 score line.
Both top seeds proved why they were each ranked number one in their conference, as they set out to battle for the grand finale of the CRL Spring Showdown. LSU came out of the gates firing winning the first two games as Akron were slow to get going. Their offense struggled to find the net as one goal in each of the first two games would not be enough to stop LSU. Akron would not be beaten that easily, as they came back in OT to win game three. From there it was all Akron as they asserted their dominance of CRL, and finished off the series 4-2.
Both Reticence and Buzz averaged a full goal per game for Akron across the entire tournament, as they paved the way for Akron to claim the title, and a $13,500 prize. In the finale however it was tristn who lead the charge, converting 1.17 goals per game across the final six games to secure the championship. Tbates was close behind the Akron boys throughout the tournament, finishing with .90 goals per game, although his scoring was largely absent in the final putting through just 1 goal across the series.
While the finals featured the two most likely teams to face off, with the reigning East and West champions from the CRL Spring Season, many exciting teams have shown that they have what it takes to challenge them, and potentially dethrone them in the near future. For now though, Akron reigns supreme.
