Overwatch 2 and Smash take center stage in MAAC Esports week three preview

Welcome to week three of MAAC esports! We are already through two intense weeks of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Spring seasons of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Overwatch 2. With five weeks still remaining, each team is fighting for seeding heading into the LAN event held in Atlantic City. Week 3 is the first doubleheader week of the year for each team.

A ton of action will be happening throughout this week and the standings will be greatly impacted heading into Week 4. Let's take a look at the MAAC week three esports matchups that will be highlighted this week on the official stream. We’ll also preview other matches that you’ll want to watch out for throughout this action packed week.

After ending the Fall season 5-4, Mount St. Marys is off to a tough start this Spring suffering two straight losses against Iona 6-19 and Niagara 14-16. The Mountaineers look to climb back against Manhattan College who are also looking to grab their second win of the Spring season after beating Marist College 17-9 in week two. 

This starts a doubleheader week off for both teams. How will this match affect their performance later on in the night? Mount St. Mary’s takes on Marist College to finish off the week while Manhattan will be taking on Siena University on a later date. The last time Mount St. Mary’s and Manhattan met, the latter pulled away with ta 18-12 victory. Will the Mountaineers get their revenge in the Spring or will the Jaspers of Manhattan take another series away?

This week's broadcast starts off with a matchup of the Canisius Golden Griffins versus the Fairfield Stags. Both teams sat around the middle of the pack in the Fall season with Canisius going 3-6 and Fairfield 5-4. The Spring season did not start as planned for both of these teams as they head into this matchup both 0-1. 

Fairfield looks to rebound after last week's tough 0-33 loss against Quinnipiac while Canisius looks past a 6-22 defeat against Siena. The last time these two teams met in the Fall Fairfield took the win 14-11. Canisius looks to strike back against the Stags on stream this week.

Two undefeated titans battle it out for the last broadcasted match of the week. The Quinnipiac University Bobcats (2-0) face off against the Marist College Red Foxes (3-0) for their first match in this double header week. Quinnipiac took wins against Canisius University and Siena College while Marist started off strong with wins against Manhattan College, Rider University, and Iona University in the first two weeks of MAAC Overwatch 2 action. 

Just like their animal counterparts, this equal matchup can go either way but only one team can remain undefeated. Tune in and find out who will come out on top.

After a difficult end to the Fall season at 3-6, Iona University has come out swinging and taking wins against Marist and Mount St. Mary’s. They face Quinnipiac University, a team that went undefeated in the Fall and is coming off a 33-0 win against Fairfield University last week.

Quinnipiac did suffer their first loss of the 2022-2023 seasons against Siena College 12-14, but the bounce back against Fairfield showed they mean business for the rest of the season. The last time these two teams faced off Quinnipiac snatched the series 16-15. We hope to see a similar close match in the Spring and a potential nail-biter to start off their double header week.

Siena College looks to continue their hot streak heading into the double header week after a third place (7-2) finish in standings during the Fall. Continuing off a five-game win streak in the Fall, Siena increased that streak to seven with wins against Canisius and a previously undefeated Quinnipiac. Looking to reach eight wins in a row, they face a tough opponent in Manhattan College who are 1-0 so far after a 17-9 win against Marist College.

Manhattan ended the Fall SSBU season right behind Siena in fourth place with a record of 5-4. Siena took the last series 17-11 against Manhattan back in the Fall season. Both teams off to a hot start this Spring. So, keep your eyes out for both of these teams later on during the season.

IT'S THE BATTLE OF THE BRIDGE. We could not keep this match out of the limelight as the classic rivalry between Canisius versus Niagara meet again on the Smash battlefield. After an 0-9 Fall season the team has started off hot and grabbed two strong wins against Mount St. Mary’s and Rider. Canisius started the Spring 0-1 as they look to once again take the dub in this rivalry, after doing so in the Fall 19-14.

Both teams will be warmed up after their first matches in the double header week as Niagara faces off against Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. EST and Canisius is on-stream against Fairfield. We will see how Canisius bounces back on-stream and if both teams get a hot streak heading into the week. This match could be a bridge-burner and one for the history book.

For the first match of their doubleheader week we find Mount St. Mary’s (2-0) up against Manhattan (0-1). Mount St. Mary’s looks to continue sweeping opponents 3-0 heading into this matchup, after picking up wins from Rider and Niagara. The Jaspers will look to put that broom back in the closet as their only loss to-date is against an undefeated Marist team. It’s a prime opportunity to show they won’t be underestimated this season. Will the Mountaineers continue to climb up the standings or will the Jaspers grab their first win of the season?

To end the week of action packed gameplay, Fairfield University (1-1) will face off against Canisius College (0-1) once more but in a different esports game. Both schools' SSBU teams will compete on stream days before the Overwatch 2 teams, but are ready to face off in their last match of the first double header.

Fairfield will first take on an 0-2 Siena team. Meanwhile, Canisius goes up against a 2-1 Iona team that lost a close 2-3 match to an undefeated Marist squad. Will we see a sweep in game titles from either of these schools? Keep your eyes out as the results come in after this week of matches.

And stay tuned to Esports.gg for more MAAC esports news and notes.

*match times are subject to change.