AUTHOR: CHRIS "BEARLIGHT" LEE / @BEARLIGHTCASTS
Esports recruiting is an ongoing process for both the student athletes and the colleges that live on the Stay Plugged In platform. One of the best ways to keep engaged on either side of the coin is to stay active on a weekly basis. The Turbo Tuesday weekly tournaments serves as the community environment for connecting and engaging regularly. Week 31 kicked off this past Tuesday, following the recruiting LAN at Johnston Community College that took place over the weekend. Check out which teams kept involved in this week's Turbo Tuesday breakdown.
UPPER FINAL - HOMIES 3, FUROR ESPORTS 0
Don't let them fool you. RESONAL and TIDE returned to Turbo Tuesday this week with another third in XEL. Top Slottas had an extensive record of the former listed duo switching out their third and keeping the name. This week they made a change to be branded as "Homies", however the new name wasn't indicative of a new result. Their Upper Final appearance against Furor Esports was a (3-0) sweep, and they would advance to the Grand Finals through the upper side.
The final match result of this match didn't really do Furor Esports any justice though. ANT of Furor had 3 goals in the first two games against their opponent's top defense. In Game 3, after going down 0-2 just after the first half, KURO cut the lead in half for Furor to really challenge Homies with a minute left. Credit Homies for their six saves earlier in the game, and for not allowing a single shot from Furor in the last minute. Their defense won them the series. Furor Esports kept every game within one, and they kept their heads up to force a rematch in the Grand Finals.
GRAND FINAL - HOMIES 4, FUROR ESPORTS 1
Furor quickly regained, as they ran it back with team "Celestial Jinx" in the Lower Finals. As they did in the upper bracket, Furor would dominate the goal count and find Homies again for this week's Grand Final match. Experience favored the two-thirds former champion Homies. The element of surprise was essentially thrown out of the widow as well, since Homies got to see Furor in the match above.
Homies came out of the gate swinging too, adding to their one-game advantage with a 5-0 win to make the series (2-0). A couple close games followed in Games 3 and 4, the first favoring Homies. The second one was won in overtime by Furor, putting their first win on the board in two series played. Furor continued to put in the effort in Game 5 in an attempt to build on their essential first step, and jumped out to a strong 2-0 start less than a minute in. Things would settle a bit following a goal by RESONAL moments later. ANT and SIX kept up the heat of the Furor offense once the shots came pouring in. They scored back to back to give Furor a 4-1 lead. Unfortunately for them, Res and Tide woke up late. Three goals in under two minutes would even the game and send us to overtime. TIDE would complete the hat trick in extras, and that goal won his team the game, series, and Week 31's title.
WINNERS & FINAL THOUGHTS
Congratulations to the Homies for their Turbo Tuesday title! Res and Tide have proven to be a deadly duo in the Stay Plugged In circuit. Although they are not teamed for RLCS qualifiers, there is a good chance that CRL could be in their future. A college with both players on their team will have large upside in such an acquisition. Once again it was their third that receives the MVP honors. Anyone teaming with the duo will be better because of it, but few are able to take the advantage of the opportunity and take it to the next level. XEL is your MVP for putting up 4 shots a game, 1.2 goals per game, and leading all participants with 1.14 assists a game this week.
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