Over the past five years, the Aquinas athletic department has continued its storied tradition of athletic success in the form of individual national championships, incredible postseason runs, WHAC championships, record-breaking performances, and a tremendous number of athletic and academic All-America honorees.
 
We wanted to provide our fans with an enjoyable look back at some of the best moments from all of our athletic programs since 2015. Over the next two months, we will highlight a few programs each week - 25 programs in total - and provide a reminder of why it's great to be an Aquinas Saint.
 
2019 was – naturally – a year of many firsts for the Aquinas Esports program, which was officially introduced in late-February of that year. A few weeks later, Adam Antor was hired as the program's first head coach. Eight months after that hire, the Aquinas Rocket League team rolled through the NACE (National Association of Collegiate Esports) playoffs and earned a berth in the National Championship series.
 
In their first year of existence, the Saints marched through the first three rounds of the Rocket League playoffs with 3-0 sweeps of Oklahoma City, Misericordia, and Lebanon Valley in a one-week span in late-October and early-November. On Nov. 7, AQ continued its postseason run with a 3-0 sweep of Florida Southern in the national quarterfinals to set up a semifinal battle with Shawnee State that same evening.
 
The best-of-five series started with a pair of 2-0 victories, with Shawnee State notching the opening win and Aquinas tying the series with a game two triumph. Shawnee State took control with a 4-1 game three victory and was on the brink of winning the series, but AQ bounced back with a thrilling 2-1 win in overtime to set up a winner-take-all fifth game. The Saints dominated to the tune of a 5-2 victory and clinched their spot in the Rocket League National Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.
 
On Nov. 17, Aquinas faced off in the National Championship series against Missouri, with Corey Grant, Nick Stockert, and Sam DeBruyn competing for the Saints. When the teams met a few weeks earlier in a regular season matchup, the Saints dropped a 3-1 decision, but AQ was the first team all year to take a game from the Tigers. In the series in Atlanta, Missouri took the first two games by a 3-0 score and a 4-2 victory, though Aquinas did hold a 2-0 advantage in game two. 
 
Stockert and DeBruyn both scored in Aquinas' game three win to make it a 2-1 series, but the Tigers responded by winning the next two games and capturing the national championship with a 4-1 series victory. Missouri ended the season with a 15-0 match record and went 45-2 in individual games; both of those game losses came at the hands of Aquinas.
 
Across the country, there were 61 schools last year that hosted a Rocket League team. The Saints finished their inaugural campaign with a 12-4 record and as one of the final two teams standing in the NACE National Championship.
 
Next Moment: Wednesday, September 16th

Previous Moments: 
Women's Volleyball: Saints Capture First WHAC Title in 22 Years
Men's Cross Country: Aquinas Men Earn 2018 WHAC Championship 
Women's Soccer: Saints Women Pick Up First National Tournament Win
Women's Cross Country: Saints Win 2017 WHAC Championship for Fourth Straight Title
Men's Soccer: Tahlan's Buzzer Beater Stuns Trinity Christian