Ghost take down SoaR; to face AGO in semifinals
The last two North American teams left at Global Challenge faced off on Inferno in the Group B decider, competing for a chance to play against AGO in the second semifinal later today.
The first half of the map saw the teams trade rounds throughout, with both sides unable to string more than three rounds together. SoaR took the CT side pistol round despite Chad "Oderus" Miller's best efforts to clutch out a one-on-four for Ghost, but an early bomb plant allowed for a third round buy for the Ts. This allowed Ghost to take a trio of rounds off the back of three frags from Bryan "MAKKA" Drouillard, but found themselves unable to consistently establish a lead.
SoaR fared no better in consistently holding their lead, but individual plays from Ryan "Snakes" Amann and Jack "xCeeD" Holiman kept their side close behind Ghost. With both teams repeatedly resetting the other, the half was brought to a close with a single round separating the sides.
In contrast to the first half, the start of the second was quite straightforward — the initial five rounds went the way of SoaR, with Ghost fighting back with two of their own once they could buy rifles again. SoaR countered back by securing three rounds, attaining match point and giving them a few rounds of buffer to close out the match. Their five round lead diminished quickly however, and Ghost moved the match into overtime after Oderus stuck the bomb defuse in a one-on-one.
Much like their first match at Global Challenge, one overtime wasn't enough to settle the score for these squads. A 2-1 half for each side resulted in a second overtime taking place, where Ghost got off to a far better start. A 3-0 T side put them immediately on match point.
With just Snakes up against four players on Ghost, the match was almost guaranteed in Ghost's favor; however, the fifteen-year-old fought back and clutched out the one-on-four to keep his team in the match. It seemed as if Snakes' clutch could reinvigorate his team and inspire a comeback, but Ghost Academy own fifteen-year-old Jason "neptune" Tran had other ideas as he ensured the match was at its end by securing three frags.
SoaRGhost Academy| SoaR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jack 'xCeeD' Holiman |
35 - 32 | +3 | 85.6 | 68.3% | 1.22 |
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
31 - 31 | +0 | 76.6 | 68.3% | 1.08 |
| Logan 'Voltage' Long |
25 - 29 | -4 | 67.8 | 70.7% | 0.91 |
| Matthew 'mCe' Elmore |
24 - 31 | -7 | 74.2 | 65.9% | 0.90 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
23 - 32 | -9 | 70.0 | 75.6% | 0.90 |
| Ghost Academy |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason 'neptune' Tran |
48 - 28 | +20 | 111.2 | 90.2% | 1.58 |
| Chad 'Oderus' Miller |
30 - 27 | +3 | 84.4 | 78.0% | 1.23 |
| Bryan 'MAKKA' Drouillard |
33 - 27 | +6 | 82.5 | 78.0% | 1.21 |
| Jarod 'Douglas' Onorato |
20 - 26 | -6 | 60.6 | 73.2% | 0.96 |
| Andrew 'ShoT_UP' Orlowski |
23 - 32 | -9 | 61.9 | 75.6% | 0.92 |
Ghost will go on to face AGO in the second semifinal at Global Challenge. SoaR have been eliminated, but will likely be satisfied with the Pro League spot they won just before the event began.
