Mercer Island Dominates Lynnwood
In Lynwood’s first D1 trip to Mercer Island they looked for a big win in order make the best of what’s left of their season. And Mercer certainly needed a strong win after Friday’s performance against Bainbridge. With that said the stage was set for an important game for both benches.
Mercer won the opening faceoff and immediately went to work on the Tiger Defense. After a few exchanges of possession and a nice shot on the run from Mercer’s Daniel Shields which is turned away by Tyler Carson, Mercer Island’s senior captain Michael Choe found the back of the net with 9:02 left in the first. 1 minute and 40 seconds later it was the sophomore John Wettack who stepped in for a high percentage righty rip past Carson who has probably figured out that he will be busy tonight. Lynwood comes up with a possession and pushes to the Mercer goal immediately. Carson Girgus of Lynwood takes a high lefty shot but it’s saved by Adam Bowen of Mercer. Mercer gets the ball back and Steve Caditz sets up to take a run down the alley, instead he just steps in fires one into Carson which ends up dribbling by the screened goalie. Finally # 4 of Lynwood Curtis Wisser capitalizes on an unsettled situation and puts one by Bowen on the door step with 2:36 minutes left in the quarter. Mercer maintains possession until Choe finds inside of the goal with 41.5 seconds left. The quarter comes to an end and the score is 4 to 1 Mercer. Mercer had 11 ground balls to Lynwood’s 2 in the first.
The second quarter starts slow with the first goal being score by Choe 6 minutes in. Tyler Carson has been standing on his head for the Tigers making four straight saves. Wettack finds himself another in the 7th minute of the quarter and Chow adds one also. Some more MI players get in on the scoring frenzy as Daniel Shields and Mikey Black both get a goal apiece. Tyler Carson ends the first half with 12 saves, but he certainly is not done yet. However, Mercer continues to win the groundball war with 6 in the second to Lynwood’s 1. At the half the score is 9 to 1 Mercer.
The second half starts much like the second quarter except with a few changes off the bench for Mercer. Hap Giraud starts in the goal for the islanders and Rob Waller goes in at attack. Bruckner for mercer continues to win the face-offs for Mercer giving his team extra possessions. Jeremy Greenizer seems to be everywhere for Lynwood, taking face-offs, taking the ball away, and most of all giving his team some intensity with some big hits. Lynwood takes the ball on offense as a push in the back is called and Wisser drives to the goal from behind. He beats his man and bashes past the slide but is denied by Giraud on the crease. Mercer gets the ball back and continues to dominate the time of possession. Mac Beckwith for Mercer ends up scoring an unlikely goal with a long pole with 4:20 left in the third. But the Goalie play from Lynwood cannot go unnoticed. Tyler Carson made big save after big save to give his team the chance to get some goals. He cleared the ball aggressively and allowed the Tiger Offense to push the transition game; he closed out the third quarter with 10 saves. But not before two more goals came from Mercer’s Choe and one from freshman Doug Mahoney. Making the score 13 to 1.
The fourth quarter only saw two goals from Mercer, one at 4:50 left in the game from Daniel Shields and another from John Wettack. Tyler Carson had 4 more saves making his final on the night 26 saves, certainly an impressive night. Lynwood got another goal with 30 seconds left in the game on a nice underhand shot from Alex Tindall. The final score was 15 to 2 Mercer winning. Mercer maintained possession for the good part of the game with 30 ground balls. Mercer’s Bowen and Giraud had a combined 3 saves. Michael Choe went 6g. John Wettack had 3g2a. Daniel Shields had 2g1a. Mikey Black had 1g2a. Steve Caditz and Doug Mahoney each had 1g. Conner Beckwith had 1a. For Lynwood, Wisser and Tindall each had 1g.