The META Rocket League Regional Playoffs have kicked off, with the 16 best teams from across Australia lining up to contest for the title. In NSW and QLD, table-toppers Emmaus looked to assert their dominance once again on Ormiston College.
The Regional Playoffs for META High School Esports Rocket League have kicked off, and the pool of 16 is about to get thinned before Nationals. Emmaus Catholic College vs Ormiston College in the NSW/QLD/ACT Division set the pace for the week’s action, with the finals tantalizingly close for both schools.
According to Haydn, one of Emmaus’ players, their expectations were to once again demolish the QLD-based school, just like they did in the regular season.
“Due to the fact that we already played against them in the season and won fairly comfortably it was more of an expectation from the lads to carry it over into the series again,” he told Snowball.
However, Emmaus got off to a rough start in the Regional Playoffs, despite their flawless regular season. They conceded a goal from kick-off in Game 1, which had the potential to set the tone for the entire series.
However, Haydn managed to equalise less than a minute later, and they kept the pressure on. Emmaus peppered the Ormiston net, scoring another two in quick succession, before putting the game out of reach with another three later on despite the Redbacks’ best attempts.
In Game 2, it was Emmaus that broke out to the early lead off the back of a goal from Supersonic, but Ormiston tried to claw back a draw. However, their dire accuracy in front of goal left them clutching at straws, and before long, Emmaus was back on the front foot.
The Redbacks did manage to answer back with one of their own with 90 seconds left, however Emmaus pushed it back out to a two-goal lead shortly after. Ormiston’s early game accuracy ended up costing them the game despite having more chances, with Emmaus’ clinical finishing giving them the chance to tie the series up in three.
Game 3 was all Ormiston at the start. Following on from their much better performance in Game 2, they put the pressure on Emmaus’ net early. Mock kept up a rock solid defense for over a minute, but it finally cracked 72 seconds into the match.
Congratulations to the following teams for making it to the 2020 Rocket League Regional Playoffs.
— META High School Esports (@METAhse) June 21, 2020
The remaining teams to qualify for the playoffs will be determined in tiebreakers over the next week. #METAHSE pic.twitter.com/X9qXuiVsHJ
Just as quickly as they secured the lead though, Ormiston lost it. Mock turned defense into offence as he equalised for Emmaus, and got a brace for himself just a minute later. The stalwart for the NSW high school ended the final game with four goals, as Ormiston ran out of gas after a hopeful start in Game 3 to lose in a clean sweep.
“Mock has been an integral part for us as he helps to link everything together and is an outstanding individual player,” Haydn said of Mock.
“Not only has he shown his skills on the pitch but behind the scenes he is a great leader and helps us through communicating and providing feedback on what we need to be doing better, what we are doing poorly et cetera.”
With Nationals now in their sights, Emmaus are looking to not only prove their worth against the best in their state, but the best in the country.
“Our mentality coming into the tournament was to go undefeated throughout the regionals which we did. It’s really reassuring of our abilities that we know we can beat some really challenging teams and we believe that we can go all the way to the finals.”
In the other semi-final, Canley Vale High School took down Caringbah’s Calculators to cement themselves a rematch with Emmaus in the NSW/QLD/ACT Regional Final.
Make sure to follow META on Twitter for all the High School League gameday news and announcements @METAhse. For more information, visit the official site at METAhse.gg.
