Take me home to the place I belong: West Virginia
IRVINE, Calif. - The Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championship trophy will be taking country roads to West Virginia following Salem University's 16-12 victory over Concordia on Sunday afternoon at Woollett Aquatics Center.
The Tigers jumped out to a six-goal advantage early in the second quarter and withstood a late Golden Eagle rally to guarantee itself a spot in Dec. 6-8's 2024 National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship at Avery Aquatic Center in Stanford, Calif.
Salem (20-3), which increased its winning streak to 14 games, will be making its first national tournament appearance in its 26 years as an intercollegiate program. In addition, it's the first time the men's WWPA champion will hail from east of the Mississippi River in the conference's over 40-year history.
The Tigers open the national tournament against No. 1 UCLA (23-2) on Friday, Dec. 6 at 12pm PT. For the entire championship bracket, click here.
Salem jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals from Danko Kesic and Ivan Petkovski and was able to maintain the lead throughout.
CUI (14-17) twice pulled within one, but consecutive scores capped by a teardrop from Marko Zivojinovic handed Salem a 5-2 lead at the death of the first quarter.
Salem expanded the lead to four when Ivan Zivojinovic quieted the home crowd with a spinning shot to make it 6-2 on the first possession of the second frame.
Harry Bentham converted a penalty shot to snap CUI's seven-minute scoreless streak, but once again the Tigers answered back with another score from Petkovski.
Kesic then added two more, expanding the lead to the biggest of the contest, 9-3, and forcing a CUI timeout.
Oscar Garcia Blomback and Lucas Rodriguez scored out of the brief pause to close the gap back to four.
WWPA Co-Player of the Year Nikola Krsonosic quelled a scoring lull by the Tigers with a penalty shot, but CUI's Kai Young gave the Golden Eagles some momentum when he spun from eight meters and rifled a skip shot into the far corner with moments waning in the first half, 10-6.
The Tigers went back up by five midway through the third, but WWPA Co-Player of the Year Konstantios Koulouris scored back-to-back goals - both of the bar-down variety - to pull CUI within 12-9, the closest they'd been since the 7:04 mark of the second quarter.
The momentum was short-lived. The WWPA's leading scorer, Krsontonsic, and Marko Jovanovic scored on Salem's two first offensive possessions of the fourth quarter to put the lead back to five.
Petkovski sealed the deal when he snuck a shot from seven meters out to push the lead to 15-9 with 3:30 remaining.
Koulouris and Kaliq Khan scored late goals, but the Tigers were able to spread the offense and bleed the clock the rest of the way.
Kesic and Petkovski led all scorers with five goals on the day. Duarte Costa made 11 saves.
WWPA Co-Player of the Year Nikola Krstonosic was named WWPA Championship Most Outstanding Player. WWPA First Team M. Zivojinovic and the WWPA Freshman of the Year Kesic earned All-Tournament First Team.
Garcia Blomback and Koulouris contributed hat tricks for CUI, which took runner-up for the second straight season.
3rd Place: #2W Biola 14 - #2E Gannon 12
Courtesy Biola Athletics
Biola (12-21) battled in the third-place game, and tackled the second seed from the east, Gannon University (16-7), in a 14-12 bout.
A 13-minute stretch of defensive prowess defined the game for the Eagles. It began with a shutout in the second quarter, as the Golden Knights were unable to slip one by Mitchell Carpenter through the whole stanza.
The scoreless stretch continued into the third quarter, as Biola built its lead. 13 scoreless minutes went by between the second and third quarters for Gannon, as the Eagles put together a 5-0 run. Jackson Sumwalt netted the third goal for BU in the third quarter, creating a 7-4 edge.
The two teams traded blows the rest of the way but Biola never relinquished its advantage for the 14-12 final.
Caleb Hernandez was a key distributor on offense, dishing out five assists. He piled on six points with a goal and added a steal to his impressive day.
Nolan Rapp and John Grasso went back-to-back in the scoring column with four and three goals, respectively. Rapp nabbed three scores in the second half, and totaled five points on the day with an assist. Grasso added to his offensive input with a steal and a field block on Sunday.
Christian Trapp, Braeden Marsolini, Gavin McKenzie, Sumwalt and Kyle Seifen all dented the twine at least once, as well.
BU came up with 11 steals on Sunday and was led by Adam LaVoy, who pulled in four takeaways.
Carpenter was the final line of defense with 11 saves in the contest in 32 minutes in the cage.
The first class of four-year players graduate from BU, as 10 seniors played their final match for the Eagles: Luke Franklin, Matthew Rodriguez, Christian Trapp, Braeden Marsolini, Nolan Rapp, John Grasso, Mitchell Carpenter, Casey Cazanjian, Jackson Sumwalt, and Will Tibbetts.
5th Place: #3W Fresno Pacific 14 - #3E McKendree 13
In a game in which no team led by more than two goals and there were four ties and two lead changes in the final quarter, it would be the Sunbirds (5-19) that would prevail..
Eugenio Maldonado provided the game-winner with a minute remaining and Chase Hammes made a critical stop on McKendree's (2-18) last possession as Fresno Pacific outlasted the Bearcats by a goal in the Fifth Place game Sunday morning.
Maldonado and Pietro Cattano led all scorers with four goals while Forrest Gray lit up the scoresheet with three goals and four assists. Hammes made 10 saves.
McKendree's Isaac Demski played the role of provider for the Bearcats with a tournament-high seven assists. Joshua Gibson and Rowan Daughtrey registered hat tricks in the effort.
All-Tournament Team
First Team
Most Outstanding Player: Nikola Krstonosic, Sr., Salem
Marko Zivojinovic, Jr., Salem
Danko Kesic, Fr., Salem
Harry Bentham, Jr., Concordia
Konstantinos Koulouris, Gr., Concordia
Mitchell Carpenter, Sr., Biola
John Grasso, Sr., Biola
Nikiforos Liantziris, Fr., Gannon
Second Team
Duarte Costa, Sr., Salem
Carlos Olat, Sr., Concordia
Nolan Rapp, Sr., Biola
Alvaro Marco, Sr., Gannon
Pietro Cattano, Sr., Fresno Pacific
Jimmy Cronin, Sr., McKendree