GENEVA, Ohio – The Gannon men's water polo team will play in the third-place game at the 2025 WWPA Men's Championship on Sunday morning. Their fate was determined following an 11-9 loss to No. 2W Biola in the first of Saturday's semifinals.

The game was a rematch of last year's third-place match with Biola, which the Golden Eagles also won by a pair of goals, 14-12. Gannon's high-powered scoring attack was never able to get untracked as Biola held the Golden Knights, the East Region number one seed, to a season-tying low total.

Gannon will return to the pool at the SPIRE Aquatics Center on Sunday at 11 a.m. to face Fresno Pacific with third place on the line. Fresno Pacific lost to No. 1W Concordia 15-5 in Saturday's second semifinal.

Concordia and Biola will square off in an all-Western Region final for the 2025 WWPA championship. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS FORCED TO PLAY CATCH-UP
Gannon was never able to grab the lead against Biola. The Eagles scored the first two goals and led 2-1 after one period. They tacked on two more goals in the first ninety seconds of the second period for the largest lead of the match at 4-1. Gannon trailed at 5-3 at the half but would pull to within a goal on four occasions in the second half. The last came on Rajmund Farsung's second goal of the match with 55 seconds remaining, making it 10-9. Biola countered with the clinching goal with 32 seconds remaining.

DEFENSE THE NAME OF THE GAME
The low-scoring affair matched the fewest goals scored by Gannon this year. The Golden Knights held a slim 30-28 advantage in shots but did not have many interiors attempts. Both goalies were outstanding. Gannon's Bato Mahocsi registered nine saves while Joshua Dachuenhausen had 11 for Biola.

SHAW PACES GANNON SCORERS
Gannon's scoring leader was a somewhat unlikely source as Dillon Shaw (Salt Lake City, Utah/Skyline) muscled his way for four goals. The sophomore entered the match with 22 goals on the season.

CAN'T KEEP A GOLDEN KNIGHT DOWN
It was obvious that Biola was paying particular attention to Alexandros Kotskar (Voula, Greece/Athinaiki Agogh), Gannon's career leader in goals and points. Despite the extra attention the senior from Greece led the Golden Knights with five points, assisting on four goals and scoring once in the fourth period.

GANNON, FRESNO PACIFIC MEET FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR IN WWPA CHAMPIONSHIP
Gannon and Fresno Pacific met a year ago in the opening round of the WWPA Championship with Gannon advancing with a 17-15 win. The Golden Knights went on to finish fourth after placing third in 2023. That season also included a two-goal win over Fresno Pacific, 16-14, on day two.