Concordia clinches No. 1 seed, first round bye in sudden victory thriller

LA MIRADA, Calif. - Anna Tyukasz's sudden-victory goal lifted Concordia to a 12-11 victory at Biola on Thursday afternoon, guaranteeing Concordia the West No. 1 seed and a quarterfinal bye for the 2026 WWPA Championship.

The Golden Eagles (6-1 WWPA), who overtook Biola (6-2 WWPA) for first place in the West Region, can win the West outright with a victory over Cal State Monterey Bay (5-2 WWPA) tomorrow at 11 a.m. in the season finale in Irvine.

An Otter win over CUI would leave the West with three 6-2 teams and three co-regional champions: Biola, Concordia and Cal State Monterey Bay. CUI holds the tiebreaker advantage over BU and CSUMB due to its better record against common non-conference opponents. CUI was the only program of the three to beat Cal State Fullerton - the only common non-conference opponent that all three teams played this season.

CSUMB would then be the No. 2 seed. Although CSUMB and BU split their two conference games, the Otters hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Eagles thanks to their non-conference overtime win against BU back on Jan. 16.

If CUI beats CSUMB, Biola will be the No. 2 seed.

For more on Thursday's thriller, visit www.cuigoldeneagles.com.