December 10, 2024
The St. Mary’s University Esports Rocket League team completed its perfect season, sweeping Buena Vista University, 4-0 on Tuesday. After the Buena Vista Beavers scored the first two goals in the first period, the Rattlers shut them down, scoring the final 12 goals over four stanzas.
The Rattlers went 10-0 throughout the Fall 2024 semester, with the final five victories all coming via the 4-0 sweep. The Rocket League team is the first Esports team at St. Mary’s to go undefeated through the season, and only Elizabeth Moralez (San Antonio) is a senior. Troy Johnson (San Antonio) is a sophomore, while Xander Castillo (Brooklyn, NY), Jesse Larralde IV (San Antonio), and Chelsy Tinacba (San Antonio) are all freshmen.
On Tuesday, Buena Vista scored the first two goals in the first period before Johnson scored back-to-back goals in 33 seconds to tie things up at 2-2. Larralde took the opening tip in overtime and scored after only four seconds had elapsed for the 3-2 win.
The second period took a little longer for the scoring to get going, but Larralde found the back of the net with 2:36 remaining in the period for the lone score on a shot from just beyond the center circle for the 1-0 victory.
Up 2-0, the Rattlers didn’t rest on their laurels, winning the third period by its largest margin of the night, 5-0. Larralde posted his third goal of the match, scoring nine seconds in. Castillo broke onto the scoreboard less than a minute later, scoring with 3:54 on the clock. At the 2:43 mark, Johnson scored again to push the lead to 3-0, and 32 seconds later, Castillo grabbed a rebound off a blocked shot and sent it back into the net for the team’s seventh straight goal. With only 27 ticks remaining, Johnson blasted another goal for the dominating 5-0 win.
Once again, the offense remained aggressive in the fourth period. Johnson grabbed a rebound off a Castillo shot to score 45 seconds in. After playing three minutes of stellar defense, Castillo struck again, finding the back of the net with 56 seconds left, and he hit the final dagger of the match with one second left for the Grand Finals victory.
Johnson ended the night with five goals, while Castillo scored four times and Larralde chipped in three as the team won the four periods by a 12-2 tally.