Higher seeds advance on opening day of WWPA Championship

IRVINE, Calif. - The semifinals are set for the 2024 WWPA Championship following wins by each WWPA Region's No. 2 seed in Friday's quarterfinal round.

Gannon (16-15) takes on No. 1 West seed and host Concordia (13-16) at 11am, followed by Biola (11-20) and No. 1 East seed Salem (18-3) at 1pm.

Live video and statistics can be found here.

Quarterfinal 1: #2E Biola 15 - #3E McKendree 6

The defending WWPA champions scored five unanswered goals while holding its opponent scoreless for over 10 minutes to grab a lead they wouldn't come close to relinquishing in Friday's first quarterfinal matchup.

No. 2 West seed Biola downed No. 3 East seed McKendree (2-17), 15-6, to secure a date in Saturday's 1pm semifinal where the Eagles will face No. 1 East seed Salem.

Joshua Gibson's goal pulled the Bearcats within 4-3 at the 5:18 mark of the second quarter, but it'd be the last time McKendree would twinkle the twine until late in the third.

John Grasso scored on back-to-back possessions to hand Biola a three-goal lead at the break. Gavin McKenzie and Caleb Hernandez added goals to start the second half before Grasso topped off BU's six-goal run with his fourth of the game to make it 9-3.

Grasso, a WWPA First Team selection, scored a game-high five goals while McKenzie, Nick Murray and Jackson Sumwalt added two apiece. Nolan Rapp tallied two assists.

James Ramey converted three of his five shots to lead McKendree. The Bearcats will face UC Merced on Saturday morning in an exhibition and play Fresno Pacific on Sunday morning in the fifth-place game.

Quarterfinal 2: #2E Gannon 17 - #3W Fresno Pacific 15

Nikiforos Liantziris scored a game-high seven goals, Alexandros Kotskar added four, and No. 2 East seed Gannon held off a pesky No. 3 West seed Fresno Pacific (4-19) to secure its first-ever WWPA semifinal berth.

FPU's Jordan Lambert helped the Sunbirds edge ahead 6-5 at the two-minute mark of the second quarter, but back-to-back goals from Liantziris handed the Golden Knights a one-goal advantage at halftime.

Consecutive scores from Victor Volant and Liantziris stretched GU's lead to three within the first minute of the second half. It appeared the game would get away from the 'Birds, but FPU registered three unanswered goals punctuated by Christiano Sandino to make it 10-10.

Tied 13-13 in the fourth quarter, a look-away score from Kotskar followed by a Volant close-range goal once again pushed GU's lead to two.

Eugenio Maldonado pulled FPU back within a score at the minute mark before finding himself free on the left side with just 30 seconds remaining. His left-handed effort went to the short post, but Alvaro Marco stonewalled the rocket with his left hand to preserve the lead and allow GU to run out the clock.

Marco finished with nine saves, the most of any goalkeeper on the day.

Forrest Gray led FPU with four scores while Sandino and Pietro Cattano contributed hat tricks.

FPU will take on UC Merced in an exhibition on Saturday afternoon before facing McKendree in the fifth-place game on Sunday.