CANTON — Paul Smith’s College and SUNY Canton battled to a 2-all standoff Wednesday, April 24 in Overwatch and Super Smash Brother’s Ultimate. It was the first-ever eSports competition for Paul Smith’s College.

SUNY Canton hosted the match at their brand new, state-of-the-art eSports stadium.

“Our students felt right at home and took home the gold in the first Overwatch match against SUNY Canton after months of non-stop practice and training,” Paul Smith’s eSports coach Matt Bailey said.

Paul Smith’s College continued to pressure SUNY Canton’s Overwatch team the rest of the night with a terrific back and forth in multiple scrimmage matches.

Canton eSports Coordinator Charlie Murray and the SUNY Canton Overwatch team hosted the event.

“You can tell Paul Smith’s has practiced and their patience is absolutely paying off,” Murray said after the first few matches. “Get this team on mouse and keyboard and they’ll take off.”

Rob Snow, eSports head coach at SUNY Canton added, “The landscape of eSports is currently changing. With so many colleges coming on board we’re going to see many more events like we saw today, which is an incredible experience. To be able to finish an eSport game and get up to shake the hand of your opponent is a fantastic experience, and one we hope to see more of.”

Overwatch team captain Justin Engler commented on his experience. “It’s been a lot of fun getting everyone

connected, acting as team captain and President of the eSports Club. We’re very leadership-oriented and a

tremendously diverse group. We have resident assistants, IT student employees, basketball players and students across every major who came out tonight to represent PSC and we couldn’t have had a better crew. The tech setup here at Canton is surreal and has become my dream to see one similar at PSC.”

The PSC eSports team left the match with added enthusiasm and looks forward to its rematch with SUNY Canton.