Columbia, Mo. - Cougar eSports put on their first big showing of 2017 in the American Video Game League (AVGL) Collegiate League of Legends Championship. More than 100 universities competed in the tournament. Both the Cougar Blue and Silver teams advanced to the (R32) playoff bracket.

The Cougars Silver team had a difficult track throughout the tournament and fell to the University of Colorado Boulder (0-2) in the first round of the playoff bracket. The team showed strong promise with three new freshman players--Evan Angstrom, Christopher Harmer and Andrew Sadowski—on the starting roster this year. Mid lane player Harmer, who goes by "Charmer" in game, had a commanding performance for much of the tournament with most of his success on the champion Vel'Koz. Harmer's specialty is long-ranged control mages that can turn the tide of fight if positioned correctly.

The Cougars Blue squad shut out every opponent in the tournament, not dropping a single game to any team. The Cougars Blue roster has two new recruits, veteran ADC player Zachary Lapham and freshman Noah Martin. Zachary "BukZacH" Lapham, ranked 128 in North America, has already lead the team to victory in several matches. "After a successful run last year we have been striving to accomplish even more this year," Columbia College coach Drake Porter said. "Throughout the AVGL tournament all of our players have been stepping up, and staff has been there to support their growth and performance. Zachary in particular really turned some games around for us and showed what a valuable asset he is to the team. I'm excited to see how he and the rest of the team can perform in Denver."

After yesterday's match results, Cougars Blue qualified for the Grand Finals event and will head to DreamHack festival in Denver Oct. 20-22. They will face off against the other finalist, The University of Houston, in a best-of-five series on the main stage of the event.

Didn't see the game live? Watch yesterday's broadcast at Twitch.tv/AVGL.

For the insider scoop on Cougar eSports, follow the teams on twitter @Cougar_eSports.