By Matt Phelps

The Mercer Island High School boys lacrosse team won the state title for Washington last year. Saturday, the boys got a jump start on conquering the Pacific Northwest as they defeated Oregon Episcopal School 11-8 at the University of Washington in a preseason game that pit the two 2004 state champions against the other.

“They were really good and a classy team,” said Islander Greg Mahoney. “They are the best in Oregon and a good challenge for us.”

Mercer Island was led by Mahoney and Chris Taylor, who had three goals each.

The game was held in the Dempsey Center behind the University of Washington Stadium. It was the first time for many of the players to play lacrosse indoors.

“It was really hot and tiring,” said Islander Ben York, who scored a goal during the game. “I have never played in a place like that and the field was smaller, so it was a little different than normal.”

Kevin Mahoney, David Sandman, Jacob Sonkin and Hank Bennett also scored a goal each for the Islanders.

Mercer Island recorded five assists out of the 11 goals scored during the game. Although the team won, the players admit they have a way to go before they are playing to their potential.

“We still have work to do,” said Mahoney. “We are just getting back into the swing of things. We need to work on our offense. But the rust is getting knocked off.”

The two teams were tied at the half but York said the difference was the Islanders’ endurance.

“We have been running and running in practice and it really paid off,” he said.

Noah Symington had 13 saves in goal for the Islanders against Oregon. Against Garfield Friday, Symington had his first start for Mercer Island and recorded nine saves. But the most impressive part of Symington’s play came towards the end of the games.

“Friday he started out a bit slow but he played great down the stretch,” said York. “It is just great to have him in the cage. These were just great preseason games because it let us run our systems and get the bugs out. We didn’t play our best Friday. We need to improve a lot.”

The Islanders began their season with an 11-5 victory over Garfield on Friday.

Kevin Mahoney came up with four goals and two assists during the contest. Taylor and Sandman had two goals each and York, Greg Mahoney and Sonkin had one goal each.

Mercer Island traveled to play Eastside Catholic on Tuesday and will host Curtis High School on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Islander Stadium.

Correction

Kevin Mahoney was misidentified as his brother Greg in the last paragraph of the boys lacrosse preview in the March 16 issue of the Reporter.

The Reporter regrets the error.