Bot Hockey League Nationals @ Open Sauce

Last weekend, one of  EVAC’s Bot Hockey teams competed in the Bot Hockey League National Championship. Austin Hou led the charge, leading both teams through SCAR-Maker Faire OC in September 2024, and qualifying one for nationals during Nexus Knockout.

What is Bot Hockey? Think combat robotics with a twist: three active robots per team, each between 5 and 20 pounds, with a total weight cap of 45 pounds. Matches are 10 minutes long, and with aggressive hits, mechanical failures, and shifting momentum, having a deep bench of backup bots is essential. Lineup swaps mid-match are encouraged—and often critical. The Bot Hockey League’s open rules make it easy for new teams to join the growing scene.

For this event, we wanted to be ready for anything. We took all 6 robots (Technically 7 if you count both Creature’s). Our starting lineup consisted of Baden’s PFMA, Caleb and Matt’s Creature, driven by Austin, and my very own Mimic. Our backup bots included Toobrichard (with the shell of Austin’s old bot bolted to the top), Austin’s new pneumatic punching bot, tentatively named Lemon Jam, and Caleb’s bot Doofus, built entirely from scrap pieces and $100 worth of electronics.

This was not going to be a walk in the park. Perennial champion Team -Ice- No Ice, run by Team Malice, along with Royally Pucked, Hock Stuff, captained by Orion Beach, Team Exile, Magic Smoke and Party Animals from Sierra College filled out the intimidating lineup.

The event kicked off Saturday morning with a 4 round swiss-style bracket. We had some time on Friday to get a little driving practice in, and on Saturday, each round one team had a bye.

Our first opponent was the eventual winner Team No Ice. This was the closest match of the event, and we held No Ice to the lowest points scored of the whole event with a score of 6-8.

Round 2 was a bye for us so we watched an amazing match between Magic Smoke and Party Animals that went back and forth the whole time. Round 3 was the last of the day and we were up against Royally Pucked. This round, I started with my backup bot to get some stick time with him since I knew this event was going to be taxing. Mid-match we needed to sub in Toob since Badens’ PFMA had taken some damage. We squeaked out with the win 10-3. Ending the day 2-1 with the bye counting as a win.

Sunday morning we took advantage of the early entry to prepare for the fourth round, as our performance in the Swiss Bracket would set the stage for the single elimination bracket. We maximized every moment, getting PFMA battle-ready for a formidable opponent: Exile.

This was a confrontation I'd been dreading. Exile's bots are known for their incredibly aggressive forks, and their ground game had me seriously worried. That morning, I made a critical adjustment, dialing back my drive limit from 90% to 75%. This small but significant change ensured Mimic stayed planted, preventing it from flipping over the puck. We also took advantage of the early entry time to get some targeted one-on-one practice in for faceoffs. Winning 16-5 we cemented the 3rd seed and had the second best point differential.

After the 2 hour break we started the single elimination bracket with our first opponent: Party Animals. Everything seemed to be clicking for us. Party Animals’ bot had also started to show signs of wear and we won 21-2.

Following this, we moved on to Hock Stuff, one of the few teams who are able to beat No Ice. They were the only team standing in our way for a rematch and a chance at winning the trophy. It might be karma for the previous win, but we did not have an answer for Orion’s bots. It was a close score at the half, but it quickly got out of hand and we lost 8-18, tying for third place at the Bot Hockey League Nationals.

This was an amazing event, we are loving to see more teams every time. Like most things the more practice that you have the better you become. Keep an eye out for the next BHL event, and maybe 2026 EVAC will host a Bot Hockey event…