The Michigan State Rocket League esports team has qualified for the Collegiate Rocket League (CRL) for the first time in program history. The CRL consists of the top 16 collegiate Rocket League teams across North America.
“We’ve always been ranked kind of like on the fringe of qualifying for CRL, but we’ve never really had a good tournament run and gotten super close even,” said senior varsity player Connor Neiheisel.
Head Coach James Jordan noted that while the team was previously ranked outside the top 16, it felt it could compete with the best.
Junior player Christian Riegert described seeing the tournament bracket as a "golden ticket," that led to MSU qualifying. The team attributed its success to team chemistry and trust built both on and off the game.
"I think our chemistry is great," said freshman varsity player David Enriquez Perez. "We call each other out on specific things that we need to change, and overall the vibes are just super high."