Irvine, CA - May 3 - An improbable ending capped a perfect season for the Los Angeles Athletic Club as they won gold at the 2026 National League Championship earlier tonight in a 16-15 shootout victory over The Olympic Club. Water polo legend Filip Filipovic, in what turned out to be his final match in a storied career, scored four goals in regulation and delivered the game winner in the sixth round of the shootout following a save from Brendon Gyapjas. The shootout arrived after a wild ending to regulation where a game-winning goal from Olympic Club's Colin Mulcahy was waved off following a game misconduct foul against Nik Mirkovic at the exact same time. With the victory, Los Angeles Athletic Club also earns $15,000, the top award from the $25,000 prize purse put forward by Jon Wieman and the Holos Law Group. Olympic Club wins $7,000 in the losing effort.

Earlier in the day Newport rolled past Channel Islands 16-10 to earn the first-ever National League 18U title. In bronze medal action, it was Golden Bear defeating the New York Athletic Club in a shootout 15-14 while Dons moved past Mission 11-7 in the 18U bronze final. Golden Bear takes home $3,000 for their third place finish. For complete results from the National League Championship, click here. On-demand action from the championship is available at Overnght.com. 

Filipovic came out firing in the first quarter with two goals to give Los Angeles a 3-1 lead. Olympic Club battled back in the second quarter with a goal from Riley Pittman bringing Olympic Club back within one at 5-4 at halftime. There was more from Pittman early in the third quarter as he tied the game at 5-5. Olympic Club stayed on the attack as they'd go on to outscore Los Angeles 6-2 in the quarter to build a 10-7 lead behind three goals from Mirkovic. Los Angeles rallied in the fourth, blanking Olympic Club 3-0 thanks to two goals from Ryder Dodd. That set the stage for the final moments of regulation.

In the 18U final Newport was a force opening up a 6-2 lead after the first quarter. A 5-1 second quarter followed and Newport took an 11-3 lead into halftime. Channel Islands battled back in the third, outscoring Newport 4-2 to make it a 13-7 game. Newport added three more goals in the fourth to hold off any further rally and secure the win. Connor Ohl powered the Newport attack with four goals in the win, Declan Barlett added three.