RMU soar over Illini to nab Collegiate Invitational
The proceedings started off with an interesting twist, as the two university squads were offered the chance to have Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill and Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert coach them for the best of one match on the IEM Chicago stage. RMU declined the option, while Illini opted to have n0thing stand behind them.
After the veto concluded, Inferno was decided as the battleground. RMU immediately established themselves as the team to beat, jumping out to 7-0 lead before Illini got on the board. It was the former Levitate duo of Hunter "koga" Allen and Jacob "SPERMY" Younan dealing out the majority of the damage for the Eagles, as they flew to an easy 12-3 lead.
After taking the second pistol, it looked all but certain that RMU would close out the map easily, but Daniel "YoungJefe" Fuentes and the Illini were able to press the attack and take two further rounds. They could not delay the inevitable, however, and RMU closed out the match 16-5, securing Intel processors for themselves as prizes.
IlliniRMU| Illini |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Daniel 'YoungJefe' Fuentes |
17 - 15 | +2 | 84.6 | 61.9% | 1.06 |
| Daniel 'bokumbop' Yoo |
13 - 15 | -2 | 76.6 | 57.1% | 1.01 |
| Eric 'xPie' Lee |
14 - 17 | -3 | 65.6 | 61.9% | 0.80 |
 Yun 'Freinzy' Kang |
9 - 18 | -9 | 52.8 | 57.1% | 0.55 |
| Ollantay 'Occam' Scocos |
7 - 19 | -12 | 57.5 | 52.4% | 0.53 |
| RMU |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter 'koga' Allen |
26 - 11 | +15 | 111.3 | 81.0% | 1.81 |
| Jacob 'SPERMY' Younan |
18 - 12 | +6 | 87.6 | 81.0% | 1.47 |
| Liam 'Welshy' Newhouse |
15 - 11 | +4 | 77.1 | 81.0% | 1.38 |
| Riley 'Reality' Fusch |
11 - 11 | +0 | 70.9 | 81.0% | 1.13 |
| Andy 'Andersin' Collins |
14 - 15 | -1 | 72.2 | 76.2% | 1.11 |
RMU currently sit at 12-3 in ESEA Advanced, and they will look to continue their success into the playoffs, and hopefully MDL Relegation.
Next up in Chicago will of course be the IEM Chicago Grand Final, which will see the North American hope of Liquid look to finally topple Danish juggernaut Astralis. That match is set to start at 3PM EDT.
