Rocket League Purple falls to unbeaten CCAC

PITTSBURGH --- Carlow University Rocket League Purple (0-5) took on unbeaten CCAC Red (5-0) and took them to the brink in a five-game nail-biter.

AJ Nguyen led the team on the night. Archived photo by Robert Cifone.

October 31, 2024

PITTSBURGH --- Carlow University Rocket League Purple (0-5) took on unbeaten CCAC Red (5-0) and took them to the brink in a five-game nailbiter. CCAC was able to prevail and won the match 3-2, but Carlow Purple put in a complete team effort to attempt to knock off the unbeaten conference leaders.

Game 1

Game one opened with five goals in the first minute. CCAC had four and AJ Nguyen (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway HS) tallied one for Carlow. CCAC kept the goals coming and extended the lead to 7-1 before Connor Gottschall was able to find the net for Carlow making the score 7-2. CCAC was able to net one more making the final score 8-2 in favor of CCAC.

Game 2

CCAC scored the first two goals and Nguyen responded with a goal for Carlow making it 2-1 with 3:18 remaining. CCAC netted a few quickly to go up 6-1, but Nguyen scored two goals in quick succession to cut the lead to 6-3 and complete his hat trick. Gottschall added two more just moments later to bring the score to 6-5 with four seconds remaining in regulation. CCAC was able to stave off the Carlow attack and take game two, 6-5.

Game 3

Carlow opened game three with a Nguyen goal assisted by Gottschall. Carlow then extended the lead to 2-0 this with a goal by Gottschall assisted by Nguyen. CCAC scored their first and second goals of the game six seconds apart to make the game 2-2. Nguyen was able to break through with 20 seconds left to take Carlow up 3-2 and secure the win in game three.

Game 4

Game four opened much more defensively than the previous three. It took nearly 2:30 for CCAC to score the first goal and their second came just moments later. Nguyen scored once more to cut the lead to 2-1 with 1:30 left in regulation. Elizabeth Knight (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS) then set up Nguyen to draw the game even at 2-2. As time expired, Gottschall slammed home a feed from Nguyen to pull ahead 3-2 and win game four.

Game 5

Carlow was able to push for a game five and compete for the reverse sweep. CCAC had other plans as they scored 30 seconds into the game and then potted a quick trio a minute later to go up 4-0 with 2:32 left in the match. CCAC continued to pad their lead taking the score to 7-0 and ultimately 7-1 when they scored an own goal credited to Nguyen. CCAC finished the game 7-1 and won the match overall, 3-2.