In the second battle of the islands this season the Mercer Island boys lacrosse team survived overtime, a power outage and Bainbridge to earn a spot in Saturday’s state championship.
The Islanders won 7-6 in overtime on Wednesday, May 30 and will face Bellevue on Saturday in the state finals.
The game started fast, with Mercer Island scoring the first goal moments after the game started. But Bainbridge controlled the rest of the first quarter, earning a 2-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Both teams battled, with goalies and defenses holding strong, keeping the score to a low 2-2 tied game at halftime.
After the break, the teams traded goals back and forth, with Bainbridge earning the upper hand on the score board going into the final minutes with a 4-3 lead.
In the fourth quarter, things started to pick up. Shots flying, the teams went back and forth, scoring goals almost as quickly as the teams seemed to reset. As the clock dwindled, the score was tied at 6, sending the two rivals into overtime.
With 2:56 left on the clock in overtime, the lights in the stadium suddenly went dark, forcing a temporary pause in the game. Ten minutes later, and 30 seconds after play resumed, Mercer Island senior Hayden Reisman scored the game winning goal.
Reisman scored three goals in the game, with two assists and two ground balls, while Steen Swedstedt had two goals, one assist and one ground ball. Justin Rorem scored a goal, as did Peter Mahony and Cooper Johnson. Goalie Benji Rothenberg made 10 saves for the Islanders in the win.
For Bainbridge, Jackson Larkin scored two goals with one ground ball, while Jacob Knostman had one goal, as did Kaegan Ingrasci. Max LaRoche had one assist in the game and added three ground ball. Greg Shea scored a goal with four ground balls, while goalie Reynolds Yarbrough made 18 saves.
Mercer Island will face rival Bellevue in the state championship on Saturday, June 1 at Memorial Stadium in a 6 p.m. game. Bellevue beat Eastside Catholic 12-6 in the other semifinal game on Wednesday.
The Islanders and Bellevue have met just once this season, playing at Bellevue on Friday, May 3. The Wolverines won the game 9-8.
