Biola and Concordia to play for WWPA title
IRVINE, Calif. - It will be an all-Southern California WWPA Championship Final on Sunday afternoon after Concordia and Biola advanced during Semifinal Saturday at the Woollett Aquatics Center.
The West Region was decided in the final week of regular-season play, with Concordia nabbing a sudden-victory win over the Eagles.
The Golden Eagles, in their first year of WWPA competition, will be looking to make the NCAA National Championship for the first time in program history.
Biola will be making its fourth straight appearance in the Final and is in search of its third WWPA title in the past four years. The Eagles fell in the 2025 title game to McKendree.
The first sprint is set for Sunday at 1:45pm.
Semifinal: 1W Concordia 7 - #3W Cal State Monterey Bay 3 | Box Score
Concordia matched a season-best by allowing just three goals in its 7-3 semifinal win over Cal State Monterey Bay.
All-WWPA First Team selection Jaden Soto made 15 saves, and CUI (19-9) held CSUMB (13-16) scoreless for over 24 minutes of game time as the Golden Eagles advanced to the title game in their first year of WWPA competition.
The teams started 1-1 midway through the first quarter, but CUI limited the Otters to just 1-of-4 on the power play in the first two quarters, with Soto making several point-blank saves. Sofia Smith and Hannah Edwards pushed the Golden Eagles ahead 3-1 at the half.
Second Team honoree Marissa White did her part in the first stanza to keep the Otters within reach, making nine saves before the break.
Both teams went on a 12-minute scoreless streak midway through the match, but Mia Hueston snapped the drought with a goal to make it 4-1.
Abby Allan finally broke the seal for the Otters at the 3:26 mark of the fourth quarter, and when Olivia Gutierrez bounced in a penalty shot to make it 6-3 with 2:57 remaining, it looked like things might tighten up.
But CUI sealed it with some good fortune. After White stopped Sierrah Ferguson's attempt from close range, Amber Lewis jumped on the putback to make it 7-3 in favor of the Golden Eagles.
White finished with 14 saves for the Otters.
They'll face Salem in the third-place game on Sunday at noon.
Semifinal: #2W Biola 6 - #1E Salem 3 | Box Score
Courtesy athletics.biola.edu…
For the fourth year in a row, Biola (11-17) will have the opportunity to compete for the WWPA title. The Eagles knocked off the top East seed Salem (14-7) with a 6-3 victory in the semifinals.
Graduate student Ava LoBue provided a steadying presence in the win over Salem, recording three points, winning a pair of sprints and playing excellent defense to help contain the Tigers. Salem entered Saturday averaging 13 goals per game, but Biola's defensive effort limited the Tigers to just three goals on 24 shots.
The Eagles' penalty kill played a major role in that defensive success. Head coach Sarah Ramirez's team was called for 12 exclusions but allowed only two power-play goals.
The 6-3 result marked the lowest-scoring game of the tournament so far. It was also Biola's first win over Salem and the teams' first meeting since Biola's inaugural season.
Biola struck first when LoBue found the back of the net about four minutes in. Salem answered to tie the match at 1-1 by the end of the first period. From there, Biola's defense took over, as the Eagles scored four of the next five goals to build a 5–2 lead. The fifth goal came on the opening possession of the fourth quarter when Stephanie Rodriguez converted immediately after winning the sprint.
Rodriguez led Biola in scoring with two goals, while she and LoBue were the only Eagles to record multiple points.
Fernanda Luna recorded 12 saves and registered her fifth game this season with a save percentage of .800 or better.
Lucy Bramwell had a goal and an assist, while Courtney Repinz and Matipa Karimazondo each scored for the Tigers. They'll face Cal State Monterey Bay for third place on Sunday at noon.
Consolation: #4W Fresno Pacific 8 - #3E McKendree 7 | Box Score
McKendree rallied from a three-goal deficit to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter, but Fresno Pacific (8-19) locked down on defense over the final 4:39 and scored two clutch goals to survive, 8-7, in the consolation bracket on Saturday morning.
Regan Azevedo's goal a minute into the third quarter pushed the Sunbirds ahead, 6-3, but it'd be the last goal the Sunbirds would score for over nine minutes of play.
Shanelle Márquez and Joey Rebelo pulled the Bearcats within one before Mikayla Brown forced the first tie of the game with seven minutes remaining.
McKendree (9-19) took advantage of FPU's empty possessions, and Márquez handed McKendree its first lead with her fourth goal of the game with under five minutes remaining.
Frances Benson snapped FPU's scoreless streak to make it 7-7 at the 3:16 mark.
The Bearcats had a chance to retake the lead, but Evalena Filippi made a fingertip save on a point-blank shot from Maisie Mattocks.
The next trip down, FPU ran down the shot clock before Dakota Lambert's long-range shot found the corner of the net as the buzzer sounded with 90 seconds remaining.
The Sunbird defense held on the Bearcats' next possession before FPU was able to run out the clock with a series of tipped shots on the offensive end.
McKendree continues its journey in the consolation bracket with a Sunday morning game against Gannon.
Consolation: #4W Fresno Pacific 10 vs #2E Gannon 5 | Box Score
Fresno Pacific dug itself out of an early deficit and shut down Gannon in the second half en route to a 10-5 victory in the consolation bracket.
FPU (9-19) took home fifth place by virtue of beating both McKendree and Gannon (9-12) on the same day in the consolation bracket. McKendree and Gannon will play for sixth place on Sunday morning at 10:15 a.m.
The Golden Knights jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter, but FPU rallied to take a 5-4 lead by the halftime break.
A 3-0 run by FPU pushed the lead to four, and the Sunbirds answered a goal by GU's Claudia Orte Branch with two more to cap the scoring.
Dakota Lambert and Regan Azevedo led the way with three goals and an assist for the Sunbirds.