ORADEA, Romania — Freshman Diego Tresa (Rome, Italy/Istituto Santa Maria) of the Fordham University men’s water polo team and Italy ran out of magic as Montenegro exploited 2-0 and 3-0 scoring outputs in the first and third quarters, respectively, to jinx the Italians, 10-6, in the semifinals of the 2025 U18 European Championship in Oradea, Romania.
Italy – which turned back Greece, 14-9, on Monday, August 18, managed the Netherlands via a 16-11 count on Tuesday, August 19 and experienced a 12-11 setback facing Hungary on Wednesday, August 20, in the final game of Group A – earned its spot in the semifinals by outgunning Spain, 11-6, on Friday, August 22.
Montenegro built a 2-0 lead in the first quarter and survived a second quarter offensive slug fest against the Italians as both teams pumped in five goals to set the scoreboard at 7-5 entering halftime. The Montenegrins acquired some additional breathing room courtesy a 3-0 outburst in the third quarter to double-up Italy by a 10-5 score heading into the fourth quarter. The Italians attempted to climb back into the game, but Montenegro managed to nix the majority of Italy’s comeback efforts to capture the semifinal by four goals.
Italy will attempt to return home with a Bronze Medal from the championship on Sunday, August 24, in a bookend contest as the squad meets the squad it opened competition against – Greece – at 6:00 p.m. local/10:00 a.m. Eastern. Montenegro will take on Serbia – which knocked off the Greeks in the other semifinal by a 20-14 score – at 7:30 p.m./11:30 a.m. Eastern in the U18 European Championship title game.
Through five games, Tresa has eight goals with man-up (two), penalty (two), center (two), action and counterattack tallies. He did not score against either Spain or Montenegro.
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