Newport Harbor quartet helps U.S. Junior National water polo team earn silver

No United States men’s water polo national team had ever finished this high at a World Championships event at any age group.

But a quartet of players from Newport Harbor, past and present, helped the Team USA Junior National team earn a hard-fought silver medal at the World Aquatics Under-20 World Championships in Croatia.

Team USA fell to Spain, 14-11, in the gold medal match on Saturday.

Contributors for the U.S. included 2023 Sailors graduate Ben Liechty and 2024 alumnus Peter Castillo, both now at UCLA. Gavin Appeldorn, a 2024 graduate now at Princeton, and incoming Sailors senior Connor Ohl also contributed for Team USA. Ohl recently committed to Stanford.

Costa Mesa native Landon Akerstrom, a Mater Dei graduate who now plays for UC San Diego, also helped the cause.

Ryan Ohl, Connor’s older brother who also plays for Stanford, led the American side with three goals against Spain. Liechty had a pair of goals and Castillo also scored for Team USA, which led 8-5 early in the third quarter before Spain rallied for the win.

Team USA had beaten Serbia 19-18 in a shootout in the quarterfinals, with former Huntington Beach and JSerra standout Ryder Dodd scoring a team-best seven goals and Akerstrom netting the game-winner in the shootout.

The Americans also beat Hungary 18-16 in the semifinals on Friday, avenging an earlier group play loss. Dodd led with six goals; Castillo and Akerstrom netted three goals each.