Islanders cruise to a victory against the Wolves

Mercer Island clinches No. 1 seed from KingCo Conference to the playoffs.

The Mercer Island Islanders boys lacrosse team took care of business against the Eastlake Wolves in a matchup between 4A lacrosse rivals.

Mercer Island registered a 17-4 victory against Eastlake in front of its hometown fans on May 1 at Mercer Island High School. Mercer Island’s Scotty Rowe scored a game-high four goals in the win. Islanders players Glen Mahony, Donnie Howard and Ben Dunbar each recorded three goals apiece against the Wolves.

Mercer Island had a commanding 13-1 lead at halftime. MI (14-4 overall) clinched the No. 1 seed out of the KingCo tournament to the playoffs with the triumph against Eastlake. Mahony credited goalie Tynan Drayton (16 saves) and the Islanders defensive backfield for the dominating performance.

“Tynan (Drayton) had a big game. We had a great game defensively. You could see that with a 17-4 score. The defense definitely played well,” Mahony said. “Offensively, we were making our shots, which we’ve had trouble with in the last couple of games. It was good that we were able to land our shots and really send a message to the rest of the league.”

Clinching the No. 1 seed was of utmost importance to the Islanders.

“It was really big. Now we get home games for the quarterfinals and semifinals. I think it’s going to be a really big deal,” Mahony said.

Mercer Island head coach Ian O’Hearn was thrilled to see his squad clicking on all cylinders with the playoffs right around the corner.

“Eastlake is a very good team. They were undefeated in conference and they got a lot of really good players. Our guys executed and did everything that we asked them to do. We were very disciplined and we were getting all of the (offensive) possession tonight. It was a good game for us,” O’Hearn said.

Mercer Island senior Scotty Rowe, left, scored a game-high four goals against the Eastlake Wolves. Mercer Island clinched the No. 1 seed to the playoffs from the KingCo Conference courtesy of its 17-4 victory against Eastlake on May 1. Photo courtesy of Rick Edelman/Rick Edelman Photography

Mercer Island senior Scotty Rowe, left, scored a game-high four goals against the Eastlake Wolves. Mercer Island clinched the No. 1 seed to the playoffs from the KingCo Conference courtesy of its 17-4 victory against Eastlake on May 1. Photo courtesy of Rick Edelman/Rick Edelman Photography