From the get-go, the 2016 season has been all about the postseason for the Mercer Island girls soccer team.

It was there that the Islanders saw their season cut short last fall, one game away from 3A state tournament competition, in a campaign where Mercer Island raced out to a 9-0 start. And it is from there that the 2016 Islanders established their goal-setting for this year.

The Mercer Island players and coaches don’t mince words about their playoff aspirations because they’ve been discussing them from the beginning. Islander coach Ryan Camden said preparing for the postseason was the “very first thing” the coaching staff discussed with players at its team camp at Seattle Pacific University before the season began.

“Our goal is a state title. I think that should be a team goal every year,” Camden said. “When we did goal-setting at camp and the coaching staff said that [to players], we were looking to see what their body language was like. There is not one person in the locker room that doesn’t think that’s possible. As a staff, as players, we all have that same mentality of getting to that postseason and going for that goal.”

Winning state wasn’t the only goal, but it is the most ambitious of the team’s targeted objectives, which included winning the KingCo 2A/3A league and advancing into the state tournament.

“We wouldn’t necessarily have those goals if we didn’t think we had the capability,” said sophomore defender Jackie Stenberg. “Since we knew we could do it and they were reachable, we set those goals.”

This year was an opportune year to get ambitious. Mercer Island’s roster features nine seniors, including starting goalkeeper and four-year varsity member Bella Johnson, who has recorded five shutouts for the Islanders this season.

“As the goalkeeper and a senior captain, I feel that I have an important leadership role on the team,” Johnson said. “I try to push myself and my teammates to be the best players we can be, while supporting them through the ups and downs of the season.”

The Islanders added a Division I commit in senior midfielder Gracie Wall, who is committed to Columbia University. After primarily playing club soccer, Wall joined the varsity squad for her senior year, her first season playing varsity soccer.

Sophomore forward Jordan Snyder leads the team in scoring with five goals, while senior forward Camryn Steiner is next with four. Senior captain and midfielder Nalani Ogawa leads the team in assists with four this year.

Ogawa said the Islanders adhere to the team’s “four pillars” of confidence, composure, concentration and commitment for the team’s success. She believes her team’s biggest strengths have been its collective work ethic and resiliency.

“People don’t really get their heads down if we lose,” Ogawa said. “There’s been multiple games where we’ve gotten scored on and we have literally taken the ball and scored in the next couple of minutes because we want to work hard for each other.”

The season has not been without challenges or obstacles. Heading into the team’s final two matches of conference play, the third-place Islanders (7-5-2, 7-3-2 in KingCo) have secured a spot in the playoffs, but also find themselves in a near dead heat for seeding with their final two regular season opponents, second-place Lake Washington (9-4-1, 8-4-0) and fourth-place Redmond (7-4-3, 6-4-2). Undefeated Bellevue (12-0-2, 10-0-2) secured the top seed heading into the league tournament.

“We always tell the girls that they play in one of the most competitive leagues in the state, which is great for postseason. You finish with a good standing in KingCo, you should be fine in the postseason,” Camden said. “This year, it’s anybody’s game. The next two games’ standings could change and will change. For seeding, anything can happen.”

But the greater goals haven’t changed. And as the season winds down, the Islanders are as confident as they’ve been all year.

“If we just keep playing like how we do and keep practicing and staying focused, then I think we can just keep playing the postseason like it’s our regular season and mentally work through the kinks as they [come up],” Ogawa said. “I think we’re prepared for obstacles. I think being mentally aware is gonna help us a lot.”