With 3 minutes 21 seconds left in Game 5, Clemson Esports trailed Gamecock Esports by three goals. One more loss would have ended the series and dropped the Tigers into the lower bracket.

Instead, Clemson scored six goals in the final 3:21 to win Game 5, then took Games 6 and 7 to complete a 4-3 upset of the second-seeded team in the Rocket League Premier division on Tuesday night.

The win means Clemson will begin play at the Carolina Esports Festival on Friday, while Gamecock Esports, one of the league’s top contenders, will have to open the event at 9 a.m. Thursday. The festival, C3 Esports’ Fall 2026 Playoff LAN, runs Nov. 19 to 22 at USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C., where the top eight teams in Rocket League, Valorant and Overwatch will compete for prize pools of about $1,000 per title.

For most of the series, Clemson was playing from behind. Gamecock Esports won Games 1, 2 and 4, building a 3-1 lead and took the series to match point.

Masow, who plays for Clemson, said the team never felt its approach was the problem, even after falling behind 3-0 late in Game 5.

“It felt like we had gotten down 3-0 relatively quickly without any real issue in our playstyle,” she said. “We had a bunch of time left, and it felt like we kinda just naturally scored a couple and found ourselves back in the game.”

She described Gamecock Esports as a team that “really thrives when they have the pressure,” and said Clemson’s plan was to absorb that pressure and strike back.

“If you can absorb it, it makes counterattacks very, very easy,” she said.

The result was a welcome change for a Clemson roster that had struggled for much of the fall semester. Masow said the team had dropped matches across several leagues to opponents they expected to beat.

“I wouldn’t say my hopes were exactly low, but I will say I have been unhappy with our results as a squad for most of this semester,” she said.

She added that the series win, along with strong showings against Niner Esports in scrimmages, had changed her outlook heading into the LAN. “It makes me feel like we can win the whole thing,” she said.

Elsewhere in the opening round, No. 1 Niner Esports swept No. 8 UNC Esports, 4-0, and No. 3 Esports at NCSU swept No. 6 CIU Rams Esports, 4-0. The final opening-round match, between No. 4 UNCG Esports and No. 5 ASU Esports, is set for Wednesday night.

Clemson will face Esports at NCSU at 12:45 p.m. Friday in Spartanburg, with the winner advancing to the upper quarterfinals. The loser will get another chance at 2:30 p.m. against a team coming up from the lower side of the bracket. Gamecock Esports, meanwhile, will open the LAN at 9 a.m. Thursday against CIU Rams Esports, and the winner of that match will play Friday afternoon for a spot in the upper quarterfinals.

Masow acknowledged that Clemson did not play its best on Tuesday. But she said the comeback mattered for what it proved to the team about opponents like Gamecock Esports and Niner Esports, which she said players have put “on a pedestal” as unbeatable.

“Kinda like we showed that we can make god bleed,” she said.