CINCINNATI, OH - The Lakers VALORANT team traveled to Ohio this past weekend, winning the Queen City Clash LAN, hosted by the University of Cincinnati. The victory was the third LAN won by Roosevelt's VALORANT team and the first outside the city of Chicago.

Eight teams made the trip to Cincinnati's campus, with the Lakers kicking things off on Saturday morning after being placed in Group 1 with Cincinnati varsity, Kennesaw State JV, and Ohio University. The Bobcats were the first opponent for the Lakers, with Roosevelt winning 2-1 (11-13, 13-8, 13-4). The first map loss was a wake-up call for Roosevelt, who responded with a pair of dominant maps to right the ship. Henry Nguyen was the standout in the series, finishing with a total KDA of 66/37/17 across the three maps, which included a remarkable 30-kill game on Summit in map two to help the Lakers even the series. The sophomore also chipped in 9 first bloods over the course of the three maps.

Roosevelt then took on Kennesaw State JV at 11 am, dominating the Owls 2-0 (13-2, 13-1). As a team, the Lakers totaled 22 first bloods in the series, splitting them evenly for 11 each map. 10 of those came from Ryan "expn" Krajewski, who accumulated a KDA of 30/19/4 between the two maps. Just 43 minutes and 47 seconds of gameplay elapsed over the course of Roosevelt's dominant victory as they prepared to conclude the group stage against Cincinnati varsity.

The host Bearcats proved to be a tough opponent, defeating the Lakers 0-2 (10-13, 6-13) to secure the top seed in the group. Roosevelt jumped out to a 4-1 lead on Summit in map one, but Cincinnati responded and evened it up at 6-6 at the halftime break. A 4-0 run from the Bearcats after the switch spurred them on to a first map victory, with momentum carrying over into map two.

"To be honest, we moved on pretty quickly after that loss," said Ethan "echo" Cho. "Unforeseen circumstances put us in an awkward position that game, so the mentality after was 'we are better than them; don't let this loss get to our heads.' We knew going into the first game on Sunday that we were the odds-on favorite, so we treated it as a way to build ourselves into the rest of the day." 

Despite the loss, Roosevelt secured the 3rd overall seed, setting up a date with Bowling Green at 9 am on Sunday in the quarterfinals.

After getting much-needed rest Saturday evening, the Lakers came out of the gates hot, jumping out to a 3-1 lead on Bind against the Falcons. Bowling Green did manage to level it at 6-6 by halftime, but Roosevelt took the four rounds after the switch to build a 10-6 lead, eventually winning map one 13-8. Krajewski led the Lakers in kills and first bloods, finishing with 26 and 5, respectively, while Chris "hysteria" Mackrodt was second on the leaderboard with a 20/13/4 KDA.

Map two wasn't even close, with Roosevelt winning the first four rounds before Bowling Green got on the board. It was a 10-2 lead at the break, and the Lakers swiftly disposed of the Falcons, wrapping up the quarterfinals matchup with a 13-2 map two victory in just under 27 minutes and securing the 2-0 win. Nguyen led Roosevelt with 18 kills, with all five Lakers finishing positive and combining to take 11/15 first bloods. 

The dominant victory set up a much-desired rematch with Cincinnati at noon in the semifinals, with Roosevelt able to secure revenge by way of a 2-0 (13-7, 13-10) triumph. After dropping the first two rounds on Sunset in map one, the Lakers went on a 5-0 run to take a 5-2 lead and never looked back. The Bearcats never got closer than two, with Roosevelt finishing off the win on a 3-0 run to secure the first map. Krajewski once again topped the Lakers leaderboard, finishing with a 25/19/11 KDA that included 4 first bloods. Cho also chipped in 4 crucial first bloods, with the team taking 13 of 20 in the win.

Map two was closer, with the teams trading blows as Roosevelt built a small lead. It was 7-5 at halftime, and the Lakers pushed the lead to 11-6 after taking four of five after the break. Roosevelt sealed the deal in round 23, taking the 13-10 map win and the 2-0 series win to advance to the Grand Finals. Four of five Lakers finished positive, with the lone negative contributing 4 first bloods, second on the team. Krajewski led Roosevelt with 6 first bloods, with Kyle "eigne" Caruso chipping in 3 and a KDA of 18/15/9.

Kennesaw State Varsity awaited in the best-of-five Grand Finals, which Roosevelt would end up winning 3-1 (10-13, 13-7, 13-5, 13-10). The Lakers picked Sunset for map one, with the Owls boisterously winning thanks to a 5-0 run to close out the game and 16 first bloods. Roosevelt remained calm, with Kennesaw State picking Bind for map two. Six of the first seven rounds went in favor of the Lakers, who eventually led 9-3 at halftime. It took eight rounds after the break for Roosevelt to even up the series, with each team taking four as the Lakers marched to a map-two victory. Krajewski continued his dominant weekend, finishing 22/13/6 while Nguyen and Caruso combined for a KDA of 34/24/21.

It was Roosevelt's map pick once again, eventually settling on Lotus and dominating Kennesaw State 13-5. The Owls took five of the first nine rounds to hold a slim 5-4 lead as halftime approached, but that was all they would get, as the Lakers closed out the map on a stunning 9-0 run to pull within one win of a Queen City Clash coronation. Caruso compiled an 18/10/10 KDA, which included 3 first bloods, while Mackrodt added 15 kills and team-high 4 first bloods. Cho had one of his best statistical maps of the weekend, tallying a K/D of 17/9 in addition to a team-high 12 assists. Cho also contributed 3 first bloods himself, with the team registering 14 overall. 

It was do-or-die for Kennesaw State, and the Owls picked Abyss to try and keep their hopes alive. Kennesaw State managed to get off to a good start, holding a 6-3 advantage after nine rounds. Roosevelt trimmed the margin to two after the round 12 swap before coming out of halftime on fire. The Lakers took three straight rounds to grab their first lead of the map at 8-7 and took four of the last five rounds to close out the win and secure the crown at the Queen City Clash. Krajewski rose to the occasion with a 28-kill performance, which included 7 crucial first bloods, while Cho had his highest-kill map of the weekend with 20. 

"The results from this past weekend are a testament to how hard the VAL boys have worked for the last three to four months" said Roosevelt Esports Executive Director John Lawall. "Anything can happen on LAN, and beating a fellow NECC D1 roster in Kennesaw was exactly what my guys needed to fuel themselves for the rest of the semester. Chris, Kyle, and Isaiah were due for a LAN win of this caliber, and I'm happy they got one they can be proud of."

UP NEXT: Roosevelt VALORANT carried momentum from Cincinnati over into Tuesday night's 2-0 (13-7, 13-7) win over Kentucky Blue in the ECAC Titans quarterfinals, clinching a top four finish and a semifinal matchup with FIU next week. The week isn't done yet, though, as the VALORANT squad looks to remain undefeated in league play against Michigan Tech on Thursday at 6 pm.