Brandon Fortier, former standout player for Eastside lacrosse club and Whittier College and current HS coach, writes the popular Weekly HS Beat for Boys HS lacrosse during the season.

CHAMPIONS CROWNED

Division I- Bainbridge Island Spartans

Division II- Eastside Ravens

Cascade League- Mercer Island B

SCOREBOARD

NOTES & REVIEW

Division I

SemiFinals

Bainbridge 14, Lakeside 1�Spartans cruised into the Finals.

Mercer Island 20, Panthers 3�Quite simply, the Panthers had no answer for Brad Gillis in the 1^st half.  Gillis scored 6 goals in leading the Islanders to a 9-1 halftime advantage.  Luke Larson began chipping in by the 2^nd half, but the Panthers had thrown in the towel. 

FINALS:         Bainbridge 13, Mercer Island 8

The Islanders came out amped and ready for battle.  Chris Taylor scored 2 of Mercer�s first 3 goals on similar plays.  Mercer sought to invert its midfielders and run at short sticks from behind the cage.  It paid off early as Taylor was able to finish twice and push Mercer in front early.  Bainbridge has been there before though.  Not sure the word �rattled� exists in the Spartan camp.  The patiently and methodically stayed in the game and eventually pushed to an 8-6 lead midway through the 3^rd quarter.

Prior to the game, Mercer�s Brad Gillis and Luke Larson and Bainbridge�s Spencer Evans were each honored as a Washington State High School All-American.  So, one would expect to see a lot from these 3 on the field.  However, by halftime the Spartans had kept Larson and Gillis in check.  Evans had notched a goal, but was making more of a presence roaming the midfield, clearing the ball, winning face-offs and throwing some crowd pleasing body checks.  The best players on the field to that point just may have been Mercer�s goalie, Jerame Raquepau and Spartan attackman David VanderHoek.

Bainbridge seemed in control with the 8-6 lead, but Mercer had one last push as they scored to make it 8-7.  Then after a scramble in Mercer�s defensive end, Nathan Porter came away with the ball and headed up field.  Behind the play, VanderHoek drew a flag for a late hit on Raquepau.  Mercer�s Andrew Vincent got in VanderHoek�s face and subsequently drew an unsportsmanlike flag.  The play should have been dead immediately.  However, the referee never blew a whistle and as all this was occurring, Porter still had the ball.  He finished it to tie the game at 8 and the referees let the goal stand.  Having tied the game with 43 seconds left in the 3^rd, Mercer had the momentum and it appeared we might have a great finish.

Enter momentum killer, Spencer Evans.  Evans won the ensuing face-off clean, raced down the field and fired low to tally an unassisted goal and push Bainbridge back on top 9-8 at the end of the 3^rd.  It proved to be huge as Mercer never bounced back.  The Spartans had too much depth and it showed in the 4^th.  A weary Mercer group took a couple careless penalties.  Bainbridge capitalized and the last half of the quarter, it was academic.  13-8 final and once again Bainbridge is on top!

David VanderHoek finished with 4 goals, Spencer Evans with 3 in leading the Spartan charge.  The defense held Luke Larson to 1 goal and Brad Gillis to 1 goal, 1 assist.  Despite a few careless giveaways, Raquepau played admirably in net for Mercer, finishing with 20 saves.

Division II

QuarterFinals

Curtis 17, S. Kitsap 5�Curtis had all starters back and it showed.  Gibbon went for 4g, 3a, Deuval for 3g, 2a, Martin 2g, 2a, and Nigh 2g, 2a.  Nick Konopick made 20 saves.  Rob Novorolsky and Victor Rybachuk ended their seasons each going 2g, 1a.

Vashon 5, Garfield 3�Not enough firepower for the Bulldogs despite holding Vashon to 5 goals.  Dane Loraas led the way with 4g,1a.  Eli Steffen made 16 saves for Vashon.

Eastside 19, Overlake 3�Owls had to be disappointed in drawing the Ravens in the playoffs only a week after getting smacked in the regular season.  Jack Andrews had 4g, 3a and Ian Lee 4g, 2a to lead the way.  Four others scored 2 a piece and Erik Yaap made 14 saves.

Issaquah 6, Roughriders 5 (OT)�Most exciting quarterfinal as Issaquah became the only lower seed to advance.  Up 5-2 at halftime, Issaquah almost squandered it all away by being shutout for 2 quarters.  Derek Mills tied the game with 1:13 in regulation and the game went to OT.  Issaquah made up for it though, by controlling the overtime and finally ending it on a semi-fastbreak situation.  John Harty with the game winner.  Garrett Johnson made 13 saves for Issaquah.

SemiFinals

Curtis 11, Vashon 3�Curtis again showed its muscle with all 5 starters back.  This time around they held Dane Loraas to 1 goal while Nick Konopick again made 20 saves.  Jacob Deuval notched 3g, while Gibbon went 2g, 1a and Brett Bullard also went 2 g, 1a.

Eastside 7, Issaquah 6�Another exciting one for Issaquah and another blown halftime lead.  Up 4-1 at half, Eastside used a big 3^rd quarter surge to tie it 5-5 headed into the 4^th.  The Ravens then scored the 1^st 2 goals in the 4^th to take a 7-5 lead.  This time it was Issaquah�s turn to try and work a comeback.  They cut the lead to 7-6 with just over 2 minutes left.  Then with under 30 seconds left, Issaquah doubled the ball and was able to pick it off after securing the loose ball in the offensive end, they called timeout with 8 seconds left.  They ran an isolation from the top and Chris Hutchinson fed John Harty.  Harty turned and fired with 2 seconds left, but Erik Yaap held his ground and made a huge save.  The Horn sounded and the Ravens were on to the final.  Jack Andrews was held to a single goal, but freshman Greg Bearson came up huge with 2g, 2 assists scoring both the Ravens 5^th and 6^th goals.

FINALS:         Eastside 13, Curtis 6

The Ravens had been waiting half the season for this�a rematch with the only opponent to set them back all season.  However, in that 1^st match-up, Andrews had been held below his season averages and Erik Yaap didn�t play.  The 2^nd time around proved to be much sweeter!

Curtis took an early lead and the teams settled in to trading goals.  The Ravens were getting their usual production from Jack Andrews, but Tom Gibbon was being held in check.  Eastside held an 8-6 advantage heading into the 4^th, but Curtis seemed to be gaining a little life.  Both teams seemed content to rely on outside shots and one-on-one play shown in the fact that 10 of Eastside final 13 goals were unassisted.  Yet, the Vikings couldn�t stop it and the Ravens were just too much.  They wore the Vikings down and in fact Curtis didn�t score again.  By the end, Eastside had ended the Vikings 24-game winning-streak and captured the Division II title.

Erik Yaap made 10 saves and a stingy defense of Jayme McClean held Tom Gibbon without a point.  On offense, the Ravens got surprise help with 2 goals from Kyle Farrell.  Jack Andrews finished with 5 unassisted goals.

Cascade League

SemiFinals

Mercer Island 19, Panthers 1�Just too much firepower.  Kyle Christenson and Jacob Sonkin paced Mercer with 5 goals each.

Port Angeles 5, Maple Valley 4�Tough one for the Vandals to drop.  Up 4-3 with just over a minute to play, Maple Valley took two simultaneous slashing penalties.  Too make it worse, a 30 second conduct foul was assessed on the Vandal crowd.  Three men up, the Riders were able to capitalize and put in a rebound with 35 seconds left.  It was the break they needed as they would then win it in overtime.

FINALS:         Mercer Island 9, Port Angeles 5

Having dropped both games to the Riders during the season (one by forfeit, one in OT), The Islanders couldn�t wait to unblemish their record.  They did just so as Kyle Christenson led the way with 4goals, 1 assist and 7 groundballs!

FINAL BIT

So, another season in the books.  Another Spartan championship.  However, lacrosse continues to grow and the excitement continues to pick up.  Two new champions were also crowned this year.  And don�t worry, you�ll see many of the same faces again next year.  Take a peak at the All-State teams�In Division I, 17 of the 1^st and 2^nd team honorees are underclassmen!  In Division II, 15 are underclassmen! I�m excited and ready to start now.  Until next year�summer league anyone?

Checkout LaxPower Power Ratings for Washington State High School Boy�s Division I and II.

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