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Irvine, CA – February 9 – The 2026 USA Water Polo Men’s National League season kicked off this past weekend in Orange County, California. After Week 1, Los Angeles Athletic Club leads the Red Division with New York Athletic Club and Mission tied atop the Blue Division standings. In 18U play, three teams are unbeaten atop the division: Dons WPC, La Jolla United, and Newport. For complete Week 1 results, click here. For current National League standings, click here. Don’t forget admission is FREE to all matches with LIVE streaming available from Overnght and LIVE stats available via 6-8 Sports.

Los Angeles Athletic Club Leads Red Division: Los Angeles Athletic Club got off to a 3-0 start in Week 1 with wins over Anteater (24-13), Fight On (15-14), and NL Lions (24-8) in the Red Division. The legends led the way against Anteater as Filip Filipovic notched five goals and three assists while Dénes Varga scored four times and handed out two helpers. The second game of the week brought the stiffest test against Fight On and LAAC was led by Filipovic with five goals and Andras Toth with four goals. On Sunday, LAAC found another top contributor against NL Lions as Apostolos Georgaras exploded for seven goals, two assists, and two steals.

New York Athletic Club Starts Strong: New York Athletic Club started strong this season as they went 3-0 in Blue Division play. In the opening game, NYAC defeated USA B 22-10 behind four goals from Alessandro Salipante and hat tricks from Gianpiero Di Martire, Max Miller, and Carson Kranz. Next, Gianpiero Di Martire went off for six goals in a 18-10 win over Riverside. Finally, NYAC beat Long Beach AF 18-9 on Sunday morning with Gianpiero Di Martire and Luca Silvestri scoring five goals each.

Mission Goes Unbeaten: Mission is tied with NYAC for first place in the Blue Division after Week 1 wins over Riptide (13-10), Long Beach AF (16-9), and Channel Islands United (21-10). Olympic Bronze Medalist Ryder Dodd led Mission in the opener against Riptide with three goals while Bode Brinkema, Ben Liechty, and Jack Merrill each scored twice. Dodd found the back of the net five times in the win over Long Beach AF as Liechty scored three goals of his own. Lastly, Dodd notched another five goals in the big win versus Channel Islands United on Sunday while Brinkema and Wade Sherlock each scored thrice.

Game of the Week Summary: Los Angeles Athletic Club vs Fight On

In Week 1, Los Angeles Athletic Club faced off against Fight On in the Game of the Week at UC Irvine. The two teams put on an incredible show as the game was neck and neck until the very end. LAAC held a two goal advantage to start the fourth quarter, but Fight On halved the deficit when Luke Nelson scored two minutes into the final frame. Then, LAAC pushed its lead back to two with a Bryce Hoerman power play score before back-to-back extra man goals from Gavin Conant for Fight On to level the score with 3:20 remaining. Thirty seconds later, United States Naval Academy commit Jack Pointner scored the game-winning goal for LAAC who claimed a 15-14 victory.

18U Competition Update: Three teams are tied atop the Southern California 18U standings after Week 1 as Dons WPC, La Jolla United, and Newport all started 3-0. Dons WPC began with a win over LA Premier (13-6) before dominating CDM (14-2) and beating Channel Islands United (15-11). Maximus Bruhn was a standout performer for the Dons as he scored six goals against LA Premier and seven goals versus CDM. Jett Taylor tallied five goals for the Dons in the win over Channel Islands United.

Elsewhere, La Jolla United upended Shore Aquatics (13-9) prior to defeating SOCAL (15-7) and LA Premier (15-6). Leon Kaszán and Quinn Daniels both scored four goals against Shore Aquatics. Kaszán scored six times and added three steals versus SOCAL while Daniels scored five and handed out four assists. Daniels notched five goals in the final game against LA Premier as Henry Glenister recorded a hat trick for La Jolla United in the win.

Finally, Newport got started with a close win over Mission (15-14) before a pair of big wins against Pride (13-4) and Shore Aquatics (17-10). Declan Bartlett carried Newport past Mission with five goals and two assists. The depth was on display against Pride as Sean Anderson, Bartlett, Weston Muellerleile, and Marco Rizof all scored two goals. Bartlett led the way again versus Shore Aquatics with three goals and he was aided by Caruso Polenzani, Corban Borggreve, Houston Harvey, Muellerleile, and Hudson Parks who all scored twice.

Save City: There were some great goal keeping performances this weekend as Long Beach AF’s Sergi Ramon recorded 15 saves against Channel Islands United while 18U Channel Islands United’s Elliott King notched 14 saves against LA Premier.

League Leaders: Anteater’s Johann Thrall is the open age division’s top scorer as he had 15 goals in Week 1 while 18U Shore Aquatics’ Vaughan Baker is the 18U division top scorer with 19 goals. Fight On goalkeeper Charlie Mills leads the open age division with 20 saves as the 18U Channel Islands United goalkeeper Elliott King leads the 18U division with 34 saves. Fight On’s Strahinja Krstic is the open age division leader in earned exclusions with 16 in Week 1 while 18U Channel Islands United’s Ivan Khramtsov leads the 18U division with 15 earned exclusions.

6-8 Sports +/- Leaders: Anteater’s Johann Thrall leads the way in the open age division at +24.4 through one week of competition. Fight On’s Strahinja Krstic is in second at +22 and Anteater’s Wyley Dale comes in at number three with a +21.2 mark. 18U Shore Aquatics’ Vaughan Baker leads the 18U age division at +31.2 after one week of play. 18U La Jolla United’s Quinn Daniels is second (+24.4) and his teammate Leon Kaszán comes in at number three (+20.2).

Stat Watch: 6-8 Sports is the official stat program of the National League. In addition to live scoring during the matches, 6-8 Sports provides box scores and league leaders. Stats are available here.

Video Highlights: Overnght Media Group was on site this weekend in Orange County to stream the 2026 National League. Game replays are available now. Highlights from those matches will be available soon. Be sure to follow @USAWP to get a closer look!

Social Media: The hashtag #USAWPNL is the official hashtag of the National League. When you are posting information about the National League on Facebook, Instagram, or X be sure to add #USAWPNL. Have your voice heard in the National League conversation!

Up Next: Action resumes in Week 2 from February 20-22 at three pools TBD in Southern California and at University of the Pacific in Stockton. To watch a weekly recap and breakdown, be sure to check out Water Polo Wednesday on YouTube.