The third time was supposed to be the charm for Mercer Island. But the turn of events was painstakingly all too familiar.
With a first-half goal from Austin Ball, the Interlake Saints claimed their second-straight 3A state soccer championship, edging the Islanders 1-0 Saturday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
It was Interlake’s first win against Mercer Island (18-2-1) in four tries this season. The loss marked the Islanders’ third second-place showing at the state tournament in the last half decade, with each loss coming by a single goal.
“Being a part of this and losing all these times at the final, there’s some juju against us,” Mercer Island coach Colin Rigby said. “Being 18-1-1 leading into this game, we know how to finish games off. Unfortunately, we didn’t do it for this one.”
Ball scored unassisted on a breakaway in the game’s 16th minute to put Interlake (16-6) ahead, chipping a shot past Islander goalie Matt LeProwse inside the far right post. It proved to be all the Saints would need.
The difference-maker coming within the first 20 minutes of the game was eerily similar to the Islanders’ last trip to the 3A state title game, a 1-0 loss to Lakeside in 2014. The deciding goal in that contest also came during the first quarter of play.
Mercer Island was without starting forward and KingCo 3A MVP Eric Dreyer, who sat out after drawing two yellow cards in the semifinal against Edmonds-Woodway. The Islanders still had their opportunities on Saturday, as Mercer Island outshot Interlake 19-3, with seven shots on goal to Interlake’s two.
But the finish just never came against Interlake goalie Sam Dawson, who recorded seven saves.
“When you dominate a game that bad and have opportunity after opportunity… you hope that one of them goes in,” Rigby said. “All you can do is continue to push and try to finish these opportunities, we had plenty of them. The keeper made a lot of great saves and sometimes luck is not on your side.”
LeProwse, in his final appearance with the Islanders, echoed his coach’s sentiment, saying his squad did everything they could to win the game.
“Sometimes all you need is one chance and they put it away,” LeProwse said. “As a team, we’re gonna take it hard because it’s the only game we lost against a competitive opponent the entire year. It’s tough because we really thought we could make history this year, especially once we got to this game. We thought it was in our hands. Sometimes, soccer is like that.”
Before leaving the field Saturday, LeProwse offered one last gesture to the crowd, leading his teammates to salute the Islander faithful in attendance who made their presence felt from the stands.
“Every sports player says this, but the fans mean the world,” LeProwse said. “When you hear them screaming and chanting the entire 80 minutes and you’ve been down 65 of them, it means a lot and you’ve gotta show them that you love them back. I’ve got family up there, I’ve got great friends, huge parts of my life in the crowd. I just had to show them some gratitude.”