Mercer Island wins shoot out thriller to keep state dreams alive | Girls prep soccer

For the second time in three days, the Mercer Island girls soccer team kept their state tournament dreams alive by winning a shootout Thursday night.

The Islanders hosted Interlake in the KingCo tournament on Nov. 1, needing a win in order to advance to the next round. The Islanders beat Bellevue on Tuesday night in a shoot out.

In a very tight battle, Interlake scored first when Emma Bergstrom put the ball past Mercer Island’s Corey Goelz on a rebound from a save, to give the Saints a 1-0 lead in the 20^th minute. A minute later, on the Islanders next possession, Laura Harrison, assisted by Marissa Hammerstrom scored to tie the match 1-1.

Shortly after halftime, Michele Day sprinted the ball downfield and scored, assisted by Hammerstrom in the 49^th minute giving the Islanders the 2-1 lead.

Despite their best efforts, a second Interlake goal was scored in the 65^th minute, this time by Karissa Shapard and the game remained tied at the end of regulation.

After two overtime periods, with several solid goal scoring chances for both teams, the game was still tied and went to penalty kicks.

Bergstrom scored on her attempt, but Hammerstrom also made hers tying the PK’s at 1-1. Goelz saved the next two Interlake shots while Kianna Chang made her goal, giving Mercer Island a 2-1 edge. Day’s kick went high over the goal, but Goelz saved the shot by Sarah Williams. Mercer Island’s Jamie Mounger needed to score in order to give the Islanders the win, and she made it, lifting the team to the 3-2 final score.

The Islanders will play Nathan Hale on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m. at Ingraham High School. The winner will advance to state as the No. 5 seed out of District 2 and the loser will be finished for the season.

Contact Mercer Island Reporter Reporter Megan Managan at mmanagan@mi-reporter.com or (206) 232-1215 ext. 5054.

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