February 23 - Week 2 of the 2026 USA Water Polo Men's National League concluded this past weekend in Orange County and Stockton, California. The Northern California slate began in Week 2 with a third open age White Division and a second 18U NorCal Division. The Olympic Club and Golden Bear are tied for first in the White Division standings after unbeaten opening weekends while Lamorinda leads the 18U NorCal Division. Down in SoCal, Los Angeles Athletic Club holds the top spot in the Red Division and Mission separated from the pack in the Blue Division standings. In 18U SoCal action, La Jolla United remains the only unbeaten team. For complete Week 2 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.
The Olympic Club Dominates To Start: The Olympic Club began its season in dominant fashion with two convincing victories before holding on to a late lead in game three during Week 2 play at the University of the Pacific. On Saturday, Olympic Club got started with a 23-9 win over Big Valley WPA in which five players recorded hat tricks including Colin Mulcahy, Marcus Longton, Riley Pittman, Nikola Mirkovic, and George Avakian. Sunday morning brought a date with NL Broncos and Olympic Club claimed victory, 20-7. Mulcahy erupted for five goals while Mirkovic and Soren Jensen scored three each for The Winged O. In the final game of the White Division slate, Olympic Club outlasted NL Aggies (14-12) to keep its unblemished record intact. Longton tallied four scores while Jensen added three goals in the win.
Golden Bear Begins Unbeaten In Opening Weekend: Golden Bear is tied with The Olympic Club for the lead in the White Division after three wins in NorCal. Golden Bear began its season with a tight 13-11 win over Newport Cardinal. Dominic Brown and Kai Inoue registered three goals each to pace Golden Bear against its rival. On Sunday, Golden Bear got the better of Big Valley WPA (16-10) and Patrik Kolak led the charge with three goals scored. Finally, Golden Bear doubled up NL Broncos (18-9) in its last game of the weekend. Besarion Akhvlediani scored four goals for Golden Bear while Chase Wilson and Kolak each scored three times.
Lamorinda Leads NorCal 18U Division: The 18U Lamorinda squad took home victories over San Francisco (19-6), CC United (14-12 SO), and Stanford WPC (15-14) in its debut week of play. Eli Levenfield led Lamorinda with four goals against San Francisco while Julius Martell scored three in the win on Friday night. In one of the closest games of the weekend, Jack Elder notched five goals and Brock Bliss netted four for Lamorinda while goalkeeper Zavier Ryder tallied 13 saves in a shootout victory over CC United. In its final game of the week, Lamorinda defeated Stanford WPC behind four goals from Elder and three each by Tyler Williams and Sam Storrs.
Los Angeles Athletic Club Stays On Top: Los Angeles Athletic Club continued its winning ways in Week 2. Apostolos Georgaras and Bryce Hoerman recorded hat tricks in an 18-11 win over South County to begin the weekend. Then, Claiborne Carrington scored five goals to lead LAAC over USA Youth, 12-5. On Sunday LAAC beat Sunset, 15-9, as Samu Biros and Kiefer Black each scored three goals in victory.
Mission Upends NYAC In Battle For First: Mission broke its tie with New York Athletic Club for first place in the Blue Division after a head-to-head victory in Week 2. Mission got the best of USA B (23-12) before the tie-breaking win over NYAC (14-9) and a victory against Riverside (23-13) to end the weekend. Olympic bronze medalist Ryder Dodd led Mission in the first game against USA B with five goals while Ben Liechty scored four times. In the biggest game of the season to date, three players equaled each other atop the box score for Mission as Dodd, Liechty, and Peter Castillo all found the back of the net four times in the win over NYAC. Lastly, Dodd put home six goals versus Riverside on Sunday while Andrew Spencer netted four for Mission.
La Jolla United Best In SoCal 18U Division: La Jolla United sits atop the SoCal 18U Division leader board at 6-0. To stay unbeaten, La Jolla United defeated Trojan (13-7) prior to beating San Diego Shores (16-12) and Mission (16-13) in Week 2. Quinn Daniels scored four goals in the win over Trojan before exploding for seven goals to help topple San Diego Shores. In the last game versus Mission, Dexter Black took charge for La Jolla United with five goals and four assists.
Game of the Week Summary: Golden Bear vs Newport Cardinal
In Week 2, Golden Bear faced off against Newport Cardinal in the NorCal Game of the Week at University of the Pacific. The two teams were deadlocked at 2-2 after the first quarter before Golden Bear seized control in the middle two periods. Tomas Perrone scored on the counter attack to begin the second before Brown took advantage of a power play opportunity for a two-goal lead. Milan Sumich and Luke Bachler followed with another pair of Golden Bear goals before Newport Cardinal managed one from Guido Leonardi before the break. After halftime, Inoue pushed the Golden Bear lead to four before Ryan Ohl and Ben Forer answered with a pair of goals for Newport Cardinal. Inoue and Brown responded with the final two goals of the third quarter to rebuild the four goal edge. Newport Cardinal outscored Golden Bear in the final frame, six to four, but it was not enough to track them down as Golden Bear held on for a 13-11 victory.
Game of the Week Summary: Mission vs New York Athletic Club
Mission and NYAC took center stage in the SoCal Game of the Week at El Toro High School. The Blue Division foes also finished the first quarter all square at 2-2 before Mission gradually pulled away over the final three periods. Dodd, Vincent Merk, and Castillo each converted on a man advantage to begin the second for Mission. Olympic bronze medalist Marko Vavic and Massimo Di Martire scored twice for NYAC sandwiched around another Dodd goal to leave Mission with a two goal lead at halftime. NYAC turned to Olympic bronze medalist Alex Bowen for the first goal of the third quarter before Liechty (2) and Castillo (2) each answered with a pair of goals for Mission. Carson Kranz scored late for NYAC who fell behind by four before the fourth period. Mission got four goals from Liechty (2), Dodd, and Castillo in the final frame while NYAC put home three courtesy of Alessandro Salipante, Gianpiero Di Martire, and Massimo Di Martire to confirm the 14-9 final score in favor of Mission.
Save City: There were some great goal keeping performances this weekend as Mission's Nathan Tauscher notched 19 saves versus NYAC and Aggie's Baxter Chelsom recorded 19 saves against Spartans. 18U Lamorinda's Zavier Ryder tallied 13 saves versus CC United.
League Leaders: Long Beach AF's Gabriel Acosta leads the open age division in goals scored (29) while 18U La Jolla United's Quinn Daniels is the 18U division top scorer (29). NL Lions goalkeeper Adrian Ramirez leads the open age division with 45 saves as 18U Aetos goalkeeper Zane Kieckhafer sits in first in the 18U division at 54 saves. Fight On's Strahinja Krstic is the open age division leader in earned exclusions (29) while 18U Channel Islands United's Ivan Khramtsov leads the 18U division (27).
6-8 Sports +/- Leaders: Mission's Ryder Dodd leads the way in the open age division with a +52 plus/minus. Fight On's Strahinja Krstic is in second at +45.7 and Anteater's Johann Thrall comes in at number three with a +44.7 mark. 18U La Jolla United's Quinn Daniels leads the 18U age division at +39.1 plus/minus. 18U Shore Aquatics' Vaughan Baker is second (+38.4) and 18U Channel Islands United's Ivan Khramtsov comes in at number three (+34.1).
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 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 3 from March 20-22 at three pools TBD in Southern California. To watch a weekly recap and breakdown, be sure to check out Water Polo Wednesday on YouTube.
