The Northwestern Overwatch team secured their first title, champions of the GGLeagues fall season, after a thrilling 3-1 victory over the Amarillo College Badgers Wednesday night. Coming into the championship match, the Raiders only loss during the semester was to the so far undefeated Amarillo College Badgers. Coach Prescott commented that "our loss to AC Badgers in the second week of the regular season was a real turning point for the team. After that game they really zoned in and ever since then we've been looking forward to this rematch."
 
The long-anticipated rematch did not disappoint. The Raiders started off the match with a very strong performance on Ilios. The first point of the map, Ilios Ruins came down to the wire, but Northwestern finally secured the first point victory 100 to 99. The second point of the map, Ilios Lighthouse, was a more one-sided affair, and the Raiders quickly secured the 2-0 victory on map one.
 
The Badgers selected King's Row for map two. The Raiders started off the map on defense, and after a respectable two-minute hold, were finally driven off of point A by the Badgers. The Raiders were able to burn a good chunk of the Badgers' clock during the second phase of Kings Row, but the Badgers eventually secured the point and turned their point two moment into a swift capture of point three, completing their attack with fifty-three seconds remaining. During the Raiders' attack, Northwestern quickly captured point A, followed it up with a swift push through point B, and headed confidently into point three with an entire four minutes and twenty seconds remaining. However, the Badgers rallied their defenses and nearly prevented the Raiders from capturing point three at all. In the end, the Raiders captured the point with no time remaining, sending the map into overtime rounds. During their overtime attack, it looked like the Raiders were about to seize point A, but the Badgers managed to turn the fight around at the last moment, giving up only one tick of point A progress to the Raiders. For their part, the Badgers quickly captured point A during their overtime attack, taking the map and tying up the series 1-1.
 
For map three of the series, the Raiders chose Volskaya Industries. After faltering on point A for quite some time, the Raiders finally managed to capture the point with thirty seconds remaining. With additional time now on the clock, the Raiders hoped to complete the map by capturing point B, but the Badgers held the Raiders to two and a half ticks of point B capture progress. The Raiders headed into their defense with confidence, hoping to full hold the Badgers on point A, but tragedy struck early. The Badgers outflanked the Raiders and instantly captured point A. With the Badgers now having a whopping six minutes to capture point B and claim the map victory, the Raiders were in an incredibly difficult position. With the odds stacked heavily against them, Northwestern dug in for a desperate defense on point B. Over the course of six electrifying minutes and with monumental effort, the Raiders managed to pull off what seemed impossible: Northwestern fully held the Badgers on point B, turning what looked like a guaranteed map loss into a victory and taking the lead 2-1 in the series.
 
The Badgers selected Dorado for what would be the final map of the series. The Raiders defended first, but the Badgers, undeterred by their tragic map three loss, came out of the gates swinging. The Badgers managed to capture point A after a brief opening engagement, and it appeared that they were going to snowball their momentum all the way through point two of Dorado. However, thanks to an incredible play made by freshman tank player Clay "Hemizphere" Brouwer and junior DPS player Hadyn "Hades" Lee, the Raiders managed to halt the Badgers' momentum at the very end of point two.



Once stabilized, the Raiders won several fights on point two of Dorado, burning precious time off the Badgers' clock. Finally, the Badgers managed to capture point two. With only a little time remaining, the Badgers were unable to complete point three of the map. The Badgers' failure to capture point three was the game winning opportunity that the Raiders were waiting for. If Northwestern could compete the map on their attack, they would take the series and the championship title.
 
Things did not start off well for the Raiders. The Badgers, feeling the pressure of a potential defeat, put up a solid first point defense, burning precious time off the Raiders' clock. The story was the same on point two, with the Raiders struggling to make any real progress. With time running out, it seemed as if the Badgers were going stop the Raiders on point two and send the game into map 5. With the clock draining, Northwestern needed another miracle. Junior DPS player Hadyn "Hades" Lee delivered.




After outflanking the Badgers, "Hades" opened the final fight of point two by picking off three of the Badgers' players, enabling the Raiders to capture point B at the last moment. The Raiders closed in on point three. With mere seconds remaining, senior tank player Kit "WaggleDagger" Fynnardt found the opening pick on the AC Badgers main tank player. Following up on Kit's play, the Raiders surged forward and drove the Badgers off the point, securing point three and claiming the map, series, and league title in dramatic fashion.


 
Hadyn "Hades" Lee was awarded player of the match for his standout performances on Volskaya Industries and Dorado. When asked for his thoughts on the match, Coach Prescott said "I am incredibly proud of my players. They've worked extremely hard all semester long, especially in the week leading up to this match, and it's great to see that hard work and dedication pay off."
 
The Overwatch team ends their fall season 9-1. The Raiders will return for the GGLeagues spring season, where they have their eyes set on claiming back-to-back titles.