It's been a busy, but exciting spring semester for Heidelberg Esports thus far, as the Student Prince gamers are currently wrapping up their spring regular season campaigns for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) this week, and the Great Lakes Esports Conference (GLEC) next weekend.

For ECAC this season, three of Heidelberg's five varsity teams have been able to punch their tickets to the playoffs, which will start the week of March 24th. Rocket League (4-3), Valorant (5-2) & Call of Duty BO6 (4-2, with one game remaining) have all qualified, and will have their tournament brackets released over the upcoming weekend.

"After Rocket League and Valorant both just missed the playoffs in the fall, we're super excited to see them turn around and put up winning records this semester," Coach Ryan McDannell said. "They've all been hungry for it, and have been working really hard to make it into the postseason. And now our focus shifts to the next game, one game at a time, as we try to make history for our young program."

To date, none of Heidelberg's Esports teams have been able to make it past the first round of the playoffs in either league for any game title; but they have a legitimate chance this time around, thanks to some of the newly acquired talent and veteran leadership on each team.

As for Call of Duty, after a bit of a lackluster debut for Heidelberg's COD team last fall with Modern Warfare III (a game that had mixed reviews and was on its last legs as the shiny 'new' game, Black Ops 6, was looming on the horizon), they've bounced back in a big way thanks to the tireless work of team captain, Logan McCoy, and a swath of new help from members of HU's football team.

"Last fall we were struggling to find players for the COD team, but after having a conversation with senior football player, Ayden Helton, we were pleasantly surprised when he brought four new players onboard with him," McDannell said. Even though COD is one of Heidelberg's student-lead game titles, they still practice weekly, compete in-person whenever possible at the GEM Center, and most games are also streamed to Heidelberg's Twitch channel.

For the GLEC, the Student Prince gamers have one more week of competitions to go, with two teams on the cusp of making playoffs for the first time ever.

"The GLEC is a very tough, very competitive league. Right now, both our Rocket League and Overwatch 2 teams have a chance at making LAN playoffs, but will need to get wins in some of their remaining games against some pretty tough teams," McDannell said.

For Rocket League, they will be taking on Illinois Wesleyan and Bethel the next couple weeks; two teams currently ahead of them in the standings. And for Overwatch 2, they will be taking on Shawnee State this weekend, and Baldwin Wallace & Cleveland State at a LAN event, dubbed the "Lake Erie Clash," on Saturday, March 29th.

"We're optimistic that our teams can get some wins out of these last few contests, but it will be tough," McDannell said. "Regardless, we are wrapping up our regular season with the Lake Erie Clash, and our teams are thrilled to be traveling to BW for this first-ever four-team invitational."

Stay tuned for updates on Heidelberg Esports' official X, Facebook & Instagram accounts; and you can catch their upcoming ECAC playoff games at twitch.tv/heidelbergesports.