IRVINE, Calif. - The Concordia men's water polo team opened up the WWPA tournament with two back-to-back victories. Not only did the Golden Eagles clinch their spot in the Semi-Finals, the men's team made a lasting impression as the No. 1 seed in the West!
On Friday morning, the Golden Eagles competed in an exhibition match against UC Merced. For the 2024 conference championships, UC Merced participated in four exhibitions over the course of the tournament. The Bobcats plan to join the WWPA as a full NCAA DII member for the 2026-27 season.
UC Merced put up a good fight in the early match, but Concordia came out on top 14-12.
Concordia's second match was a big success! Several Golden Eagles stepped up and added points against the Gannon Golden Knights. Opening the match, Carlos Olat found the back of the net with help from Sam Diamond. A quick pass from Jacob Stuart gave Stan De Mey the chance to score. Not one, but two penalty goals from Bentham boosted Concordia into the lead. By halftime, the score was CUI 10 - Gannon 5.
The junior utility had five goals under his belt to lead Concordia's offense. With eight seconds left in the second period, Harry Bentham surpassed the school record for the most career goals. Fellow teammate Jacob Stuart broke the record earlier in the season, but Bentham's performance put him at 161 career goals. Stuart still remains close with 160 goals of his own.
Gannon's rally attempts were put to a stop by Concordia's defense. Griffin Beth, three-time WWPA Defensive Player of the Week, had ten saves and a steal against the Golden Knights. His performance combined with the efforts of Lucas Rodriguez and Konstantinos Koulouris kept Gannon below double digits.
At one moment during the match, a Golden Knight went for a close shot at the goal, but Lucas Rodriguez saved the day and had a crucial field block that gave Concordia another chance to widen the gap.
Coming to an end, Concordia defeated Gannon 14-9, effectively sealing their place in the WWPA Championship game. The Green and the Gold have set a new school record with their seven-game winning streak!
Next up: the No. 1 West seed will take on the No. 1 East seed in the WWPA Championship game at 1 pm. Concordia and Salem will face off to determine the conference champion! You don't want to miss it!
To view the FULL WWPA Conference Championships website, CLICK HERE.
