Mercer drops Massachusetts state champion Concord-Carlisle

CONCORD, Mass.  – Erasing any doubt that Mercer Island High School is a force to be reckoned with on the national prep lacrosse stage, the Islanders emerged from their latest East Coast foray with a respectable 2-1 record after dishing out back-to back defeats of defending boys state champions in Maine and Massachusetts. Story courtesy of US Lacrosse - Washington.

After dropping only its opening game to defending Massachusetts Division I champion Duxbury ranked #24 in the country in the bi-weekly Nike/US Lacrosse pole, the five-time state champion Islanders who have made it to the Washington title game in nine of the past 12 years, stepped up their game.

On Thursday, Mercer Island toppled Maine champion Scarborough 15-2 and then handled Massachusetts Division II champion Concord-Carlisle with a 7-2 win on Saturday.

“This was our goal.  We were expecting 2-1,” said Mercer Island head boys coach Ian O’Hearn, whose squad attracted two to three NCAA coaches in each of its three outings.  “The point of these trips is to get better and to get better competition,” he said.

On Saturday, O’Hearn’s Islanders were hot, asserting themselves against Concord-Carlisle despite a frigid wind-chill factor with temperatures dipping into the mid 30s.

Putting up four unanswered goals in the first before giving up the second quarter’s lone goal to the Patriots, Mercer Island entered the half-time break with a healthy 4-1 lead. 

In the third, the Islanders again stepped forward outscoring the Patriots 2-1 before closing-out the game with a single unanswered score in the fourth.

“This was the best game we’ve played all season.  Our entire attack unit had a terrific game,” O’Hearn said after trying several new combinations including matching junior attackman Charlie Vetter with veterans Grant Preisler and Justin Rorem.

“(The three) were clicking, scoring and creating opportunities,” O’Hearn said.  “Vetter saw the field very well.  I liked what I saw.”

Vetter finished the day with a goal and a ground ball while proven MI threats, senior Steen Swedstedt and junior Peter Mahony, continued to drive the Islanders attack. 

Swedstedt and Mahony finished with two goals apiece while Preisler had a goal and an assist and junior goaltender Benji Rothenberg recorded seven saves.

On Tuesday, the Islanders opened their East Coast swing against Duxbury, falling 8-4 to a Dragons’ squad stacked with six NCAA Division I commits.  In the loss, the Islanders put 23 shots on Duxbury goaltender and Georgetown commit Nick Marrocco who stopped 19.

On Thursday, the now 9-2 Islanders regained their legs after the cross-country flight to New England, unleashing the full force of its attack on defending Maine state champion Scarborough High School for a 15-2 win. 

Against the Red Storm, Preisler, Mahony and junior Cooper Johnson, a student at the Bush School in Seattle, all delivered hat tricks, while Mercer Island’s defense kept Scarborough at bay as Rothenberg recorded just a single save.

The Islanders (8-2-0), which own a share of the King West Conference lead with Bellevue (8-0-0), are back in Washington state prep action on Tuesday as they travel to Bothell High School to face a 2-4-0 Bothell-Inglemoor squad in the Washington State High School Lacrosse Game of the Week on The Lacrosse Network.  The game will be streamed live at www.YouTube.com/TLN

Game Summary

Mercer Island 7, Concord-Carlisle (Mass.) 2 -- Steen Swedstedt, MI, 2 goals; Peter Mahony, MI, 2 goals; Grant Preisler, MI, 1 goals, 1 assist; Evan Condon, MI, 1 goal, 2 ground balls; Charlie Vetter, MI, 1 goal, 1 ground ball; Devlin Conway, MI, 6 ground balls; Charlie Reinertson, MI, 5 ground balls; Benji Rothenberg, MI, 7 saves; Tim Badgley, CC, 1 goal, 3 ground balls; Will Blumenberg, CC, 1 goal, 3 ground balls; Charlie Painter, CC, 1 assist; Graham Hunt, CC, 1 assist, 1 ground ball;  Andrew Kielar, CC,  8 saves)