Mercer Island vs Issaquah recap
Submitted by walax on Wed, 2006-03-15 15:02.
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Mercer Island vs. Issaquah:
A startling upset happened last night at Issaquah High School. Undefeated since their State Championship loss in 2003 to powerhouse Bainbridge Island, Mercer Island lost the contest in what appeared to be a fairly one dimensional offensive game in both directions.
Getting on the board first, Mercer Island scored on a Greg Mahony shot ripping past Garrett Johnson. Mahony would have one in each quarter of the first half. The first half of the game seemed fairly conservative on both sides of the ball. Defensively, both teams played fairly well in the first half. You could feel the intensity in the crowd on both sides of the dividing line between Mercer Island and Issaquah in the stadium; it was electric. Issaquah answered near the end of the first half with a single goal from Sophomore sensation Travis Wright.
Halftime seemed almost a momentum shift. Mercer Island’s Greg Mahoney scored another two goals on individual effort, with one a feed from his older brother Kevin. All-american hopeful Kevin was kept at bay by All-star defensemen Mike Gerrard. MI defensemen grabbed a bunch of penalties and allowed several man-up situations to produce a goal by attackman Alex Bates keeping Issaquah in the game in the beginning of the fourth quarter.
As the intensity built up, so did the aggressiveness on the field. Mercer Island faced Johnson with 20 shots; Johnson produced 15 saves in the OT victory. John Schwartz has not been a three-year starter for Mercer Island and faced his first shots as a Goalie. Kris Snider said, “…they just need to test the goalie and see what he is made of” seconds before Travis Wright scored his second. Mercer Island played some possession ball for the next few minutes after winning the face-off, when Issaquah’s Gerrard, who hassled Mercer Island attackmen all night, knocked the ball out into a mass of gold and maroon. Mercer Island’s Kaminski came down the field from the pile with the ball, and sunk one past Johnson making the score 5-3. At this point in the fourth quarter, we have Mercer Island up 5-4 with 4:46 left in the game. Again, multiple fouls on the Mercer Island defense, causing another opportunity to let Issaquah back in the game. With 13 seconds in the game, MI earned a 30-second penalty with Issaquah bearing down and controlling the momentum. Travis Wright took aim at Schwartz and kit him right in the facemask. In a race to the end line, there was a controversial call made when Issaquah picked up the ball. Before the goalie had actually gotten back to the cage, it appeared the head official had resumed play. Mercer Island seemed out of sorts and Cale Frye hit Campi with a pass to sink the tying goal past Schwartz with just 5 seconds left on the clock. In astonishment and elation, Issaquah piled on the field in celebration to
be awarded a 1 minute penalty for celebrating.
Mercer Island would have possession for the remaining three seconds, and went into overtime with a 57 second man –up advantage. Issaquah utilized excellent clock management calling a time out late in the fourth with the penalty that led to tying the score up at five. Mercer Island wasn’t able to produce in their EMO, though had a couple of shots. Gerrard came out with the ball on a Mercer Island force and smoothly transitioned the ball to Frye. Smart clock management by Fortier continued as he called time out with possession in Mercer’s territory after killing the rest of the penalty. Issaquah had possession 1 minute into overtime and set up a play to work on the attack. Seemingly in slow motion, Bates pulled out Stein to the far left corner and began a drive to the cage. Feeling the pressure, Bates kept moving and without a slide, took a 7-yard shot on Schwartz to win the game in overtime!
This was a great game to watch, and a rematch of last years’ championship. Stories of the game were Mike Gerrard’s terrific defensive effort, knocking down passes, getting ground balls and causing turn-over after turn over. Greg Mahony carried 4 goals on his shoulders; the Islanders are going to have to figure out how to get production from both Mahony brothers. Garrett Johnson also showed his ability to clear the ball, a skill developed since last year. Sophomore Travis Wright was also a big impact, shifting momentum not once, but twice! Though the Issaquah team is young, this is a great victory for them. For Mercer Island, if they were going to drop a game, this would have been the best. All expectations of defending an undefeated season are gone, and most expectations of repeating are dismissed after just the first game. Issaquah proves this is not a rebuilding year at all, they want another shot at the title.
