When Dylan Shobe is on the attack, the opposition needs to step up its game.
The Mercer Island High School (MIHS) senior captain has rattled the back of the net with about 30 goals this season as the Islanders’ boys lacrosse squad rolls into the 3A state tournament with its first match of the postseason on either May 17 or 18.
Sporting an undefeated in-state record of 15-0, the locals earned a first-round bye and will play the winner of the Bonney Lake/Roosevelt match when they hit the field in the playoffs. MIHS stands at 16-3 overall with a victory against an Oregon team and three tough losses on their East Coast trip. It is MIHS’s first clean in-state slate since 2011.
“Our defense is kind of our best offense. We have just a really awesome defense, but the whole team is really well-rounded,” said Shobe, adding that MIHS is utilizing everyone on the field.
Shobe, who captains the team with fellow seniors Matthew Loeser and Joe McCormack, first took up lacrosse in kindergarten and now coaches youth teams on the Island.
“The game’s super fun. It’s fast-paced. Scoring goals has always been fun,” said Shobe, who switched from lacrosse to swimming at one point, but returned to the lax scene because he missed the sport.
The attackman discussed how his goal-scoring success has transpired this season: “A lot of teammates can find me on the back side. Having a lot of threats, having a lot of guys that are wanting to get the one more pass — get the next guy the look. Just playing within the system and things generally work out when we are coachable players and we’re doing the things we’re supposed to.”
Key MIHS players on the Ian O’Hearn-coached team are senior defenseman Henry Dumler (Connecticut College commit), senior attackman Peyton Jordan (Middlebury College commit) and senior defenseman McCormack (Colby College commit).
Shobe will attend Syracuse University to major in broadcast journalism in the fall. He had no plans to extend his lacrosse career at press time.
The Reporter asked Shobe a series of questions to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into his life:
What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve ever been given?
Doris Day, the 1960s singer, she had this one quote, “We’ll have this moment forever, but never ever again.” So kind of this idea that you’ll have the memory of the things that you do and the things that you will do in your life but you’ll never experience them again. Kind of like on the note of appreciating every moment. It just boils down to live in the moment, basically.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
Pet peeve for myself would be being late. I hate being late, I’m a very anxious person. I’ve really learned to take that as a good thing because now I’m getting to places earlier and I’m preparing. And the more I prepare, the less anxious I am.
If you could go to dinner with one person, who would that be?
Kevin Hart. Someone who could make me laugh is good.
What’s a superpower you would like to have?
I think time travel would be amazing. Not only because it’s amazing that you could just live in a different time period, but just from a culture perspective of experiencing those decades and how people acted, what they said, the slang, the clothing trends, everything like that. (This topic arose while he was perusing old MIHS yearbooks to compose a photo collage for a story he’s writing for the school newspaper on MIHS graduate Joel McHale.)
What’s a skill that you’d like to learn?
Probably learn a different language. (He took French in school, but would lean toward a new language.)
