The St. Edward’s Call of Duty esports team was all smiles heading into their second last regular season match against Carolina University this past Wednesday. 

Call of Duty competitive matches are played over three rounds, repeating them until one team reaches three wins. First up is game style Hardpoint. This style consists of both teams fighting to control an objective area on the map. St. Edward’s took a dominant start, easily winning the match on map Al Bagra Fortress with the final score being 250-20. 

Search and Destroy was the next playstyle. Teams take turns defending or attacking given points on the map. The first team to win six rounds wins the match. St. Edward’s struggled with distractions in this section, losing rounds one, three, four and five. However, they took control of rounds two and six. After the seventh round loss, the team voiced irritability toward their carelessness. They then began a comeback, winning rounds eight through eleven, to win the overall match 6-5. 

The third match was playstyle Control, played on map Himmelat Expo. The aim of the playstyle is to either capture or defend a certain part of the map within a limited amount of respawns. St. Edward’s won the first round easily. In the second round, one player experienced technical difficulties with his computer, but the team was still able to secure a win for the round. 

“These guys are giving me my first streaks in a while,” sophomore Johnny Albano said, who had enough kills to activate killstreaks. 

Killstreaks are special upgrades that a player earns after hitting a certain number of kills in a row without dying. The team went on to win the final round, going up 3-0 and winning against Carolina University.

On Oct. 11, the team will start their playoff run against Texas A&M International University. St. Edward’s students can catch the matches streamed live on Wednesdays in the Ragsdale building on campus.