League of Legends news » 2017 College Championship - Quarterfinals Recap

We’ll see a new region rise in the 2017 League of Legends College Championship.

The West Region won the past three titles but both University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University lost in the quarterfinals at NA LCS Arena. Now, one of two regions will take reign as the college champion.

The semifinals are rematches of both the East and North regional finals. Eastern champions Toronto will rematch against regional rival Carnegie Mellon today. Robert Morris-Illinois will get a chance to knock off the North champions, Maryville on Saturday.

You can catch both semifinal matches on watch.lolesports.com beginning today (5/26) at 3 PM PST.

Carnegie Mellon 2, Texas A&M 0

Carnegie Mellon set the tone early in both games and held control throughout the series.

It was an early double kill bot that got Carnegie Mellon going in its game one win. Senior support Kevin “MeNoHaxor” Kuan on Thresh was the primary playmaker, setting up his carry with early kills and engaging the winning teamfights. Carnegie Mellon’s mid laner David “Yusui” Bloomquist also starred, gaining a 3.5k gold lead at 26 minutes and finishing with a 7/0/7 KDA.

Game two began similarly. Carnegie Mellon picked up the first three kills of the game on the back of MeNoHaxor’s Thresh. Texas A&M was able to push back this game, evening the score at six kills at the 23-minute mark. Carnegie Mellon built strong leads in the solo lanes - top and middle - that proved to be too much for Texas A&M to overcome.

Despite the strong showing in game one, MeNoHaxor was allowed to pick Thresh again in game two. Texas A&M opted to instead counterpick with Tahm Kench, limiting Thresh’s ability to hard engage later in the game.

Former LCS standout Patrick “MegaZero” Glinsman finished the series with a combined 3/1/15 KDA for Carnegie Mellon in top lane.   

Toronto 2, Simon Fraser 1

Toronto shook off a game one loss that lasted nearly an hour, and took total control in the final two games of the series. Toronto bounced back to win game two by turning more of their teamfight wins into objectives, finishing with a 3-1 lead in drakes and only allowing Simon Fraser to knock down two of their towers. Forcing a faster pace also played to Toronto’s favor, as they were able to end game two more than 20 minutes faster than Simon Fraser in game one.

Toronto used their momentum from game two to run away with game three and the series. After giving up first blood to a countergank top, Toronto would not be killed again, finishing the game 15 kills to 1 to secure their spot in the semifinals.  

Toronto’s freshman marksman Sang “Erry” Park finished the series with a combined 12/1/26 KDA.

Simon Fraser rallied from an early deficit to take game one. Despite giving up first blood before minions spawned and trailing by as many as eight kills, Simon Fraser maintained its focus on the objectives and won in the late game. The kill score finished 15-12 in Toronto’s favor, but Simon Fraser was able to use a late Elder Dragon to make the game-winning push.

Robert Morris 2, Maryland 1

Robert Morris took control early in each of the three games in the series but sealed the victory after watching Maryland claw its way back in game one. It was the second year in a row Robert Morris knocked Maryland out of the college championship after winning in the semifinals last year.

Maryland tried to rally in the pivotal third game of the series. Robert Morris jumped to a 12-2 kills lead but saw Maryland make a 4-for-1 kill exchange at 21 minutes into the game that had Maryland looking for its second comeback of the series. Robert Morris put that to rest minutes later after a triple kill by freshman jungler William “Mordio” Yang helped secure  the series.

Maryland trailed big in the first game, falling behind in kills, 7-to-1 by 11 minutes but chipped away at the kill deficit and took their first gold lead at 26 minutes. Maryland sophomore top laner Ben “Void” Xue finished with a 5/0/13 KDA.

Robert Morris responded in game two with a rout. Following their script from game one, Robert Morris turned an early dive bot-lane into the first two kills and first tower. This game they were able to keep and snowball that lead, taking their first inhibitor by 16 minutes and ending the game 19 kills to 5 in 25 minutes.

Robert Morris’ junior mid laner Derek “Gillette” Castro finished the series with a combined 23/8/23 KDA.

Maryville 2, British Columbia 1

Maryville broke open the final game and series after an even fight for the first 15 minutes. Maryville turned a skirmish into four unanswered kills and used that opening to take top inhibitor at only 16 minutes into the game. From there, Maryville was able secure Baron Nashor and break British Columbia’s base.

British Columbia built an early lead and ended game one in style. Senior support Jeremy “Remie” Koberstein picked up first blood on Zyra and British Columbia led comfortably the rest of the way. Freshman top laner Colton “CJ” Popowich finished it off with a well-timed teleport to finish the Nexus while the teams were locked in a battle by Baron pit.

Maryville responded with a controlled game two to tie the series. Maryville’s sophomore mid laner Andrew “ckg” Smith picked up first blood on Syndra and the team never trailed. British Columbia could not find any opportunities to fight back in the game, losing 12 kills to 3 at 29 minutes.