Team USA, featuring O.C. water polo standouts, falls to Croatia in Junior Worlds quarterfinals

The U.S. men’s junior national water polo team fell behind early and lost to Croatia, 5-4, on Friday in the quarterfinals of the FINA Junior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

Orange Lutheran High senior Hannes Daube and Miramonte High graduate Tyler Abramson both scored twice for Team USA, which received contributions from Huntington Beach High alumnus Alex Wolf (UCLA) in goal.

Team USA fell behind 3-1 in the first quarter and never led against Croatia, which moved on to face Hungary in the semifinals.

Oilers alumni Quinten Osborne and Ethan Wojciechowski, as well as Huntington Beach High incoming senior Jacob Cavano, also are contributing for the U.S. junior national team in the tournament. Osborne scored twice Thursday as the U.S. beat Canada, 14-4.

Team USA faces Montenegro in a fifth-place semifinal Saturday.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo