Haverhill, MA (February 22, 2021) – The Northern Essex Community College esports team is off to a fast start for the spring semester as Jason McDonald (FreakyJ) of Georgetown has picked up New England Collegiate Conference Overwatch Player of the Week honors as he led the Knights to a 3-0 victory over Lincoln Land Community College.

Behind the efforts of McDonald and his teammates, the Knights, defended their fall semester championship by sweeping the Loggers and grabbing victories on the Illois (2-0), Kings Row (3-2) and Havana (3-2) maps. The win improved the Knights to 2-0 for the spring semester as they picked up a 3-0 win over Mount St. Mary's University

In earning Player of the Week honors, the web caster of the Overwatch match described McDonald's performance with the following, "FreakyJ was insane…Played a freshly-nerfed wrecking ball and carried map 1 and 3. He also switched roles to DPS and was still the standout player."

After being idle in the fall semester in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate competition, Joshua Silva (jnosh_16) of Amesbury is off to a hot start going 2-0 in his first two weeks of collegiate action. Silva has picked up victories over Finger Lakes Community College (4-0) and Union County College (4-3) to start the spring season off 2-0.

Northern Essex Community College competes as a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and sponsors 12 varsity intercollegiate sports including baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, softball, women's volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's soccer, Esports and men's and women's track and field. For more information on Northern Essex Community College Athletics please visit the official website of Northern Essex Athletics (www.neccknights.com).