On a day when temperatures soared into the mid-80s, members of the Mercer Island girls lacrosse team looked over to its bench and saw only one sub. Except for the heat, this was nothing new for the Islanders.

Mercer Island fought its way to a 16-16 tie with Garfield Thursday, May 1 at Seattle’s Genesee Playfield. The tie brought the Islanders’ Alki league record to 3-1-1, good enough for second place in the standings behind Bainbridge Island, which leads at 5-0-0.

While coach Liz Shields was hoping for a better closeout against Garfield, she said the Islanders hung in there and were working with what they had, fighting on the field through the hot temperatures and resting players when they could.

“We were inconsistent at times, but we have no subs,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of injuries. We had to bring someone up from JV today because we have someone out with a concussion for the rest of the season. But they played hard until the end.”

Holly Waggoner led the Islanders in scoring with 6 goals and 2 assists. June Kissell had 5 goals, Maddy Kanter had 3 goals and Hannah Paborsky contributed 2 goals and had 5 draw controls.

With a roster that features three freshman, Shields said at the beginning of the season the Islanders were a young team taking the season one game at a time. They have had just enough players for varsity and JV teams. Shields said with the arrival of the postseason, numbers would be easier to manage with more available JV players to borrow.

Shields has been encouraged by what she’s seen on the field from her mostly young team.

“We played Snohomish with no subs and we lost by four, but the girls played tough. And then we tied Lakeside, who are a really good team, and then we beat Kennedy,” she said. “At times, they all just seem to click and connect passes and do all the right things and other times, we have lapses and kind of fall by the wayside and don’t stick to the game plan. But, they’re just lacking that experience, which they’ll grow into.”