Trailing Lake Washington 1-0 at halftime Wednesday night at Islander Stadium, shouts could be heard from the players on the Mercer Island bench. They had dropped their tournament opener to Interlake two days prior, and were 40 minutes away from seeing an otherwise special season with high expectations cut painfully short.
“We were just playing very hesitant, which is very different from how we played all season,” Islander coach Colin Rigby said. “We just needed to motivate them and get them ready for the second half and make sure they knew how important the final 40 minutes were. They knew what position they were in and they responded very well.”
With two goals in a spirited second-half comeback, the Mercer Island boys soccer team overcame Lake Washington 2-1 in their loser-out contest Wednesday, May 13 at Islander Stadium.
Coming off of Monday’s loss, the Islanders once again found themselves backpedaling early. Lake Washington goalie Lars Henrikson was a busy man throughout the first half, corralling every ball that made its way into his perimeter. Mercer Island had three corner opportunities in the opening 15 minutes of the contest, but were unable to find the back of the net.
Following an unsuccessful Mercer Island corner in the 33rd minute, Lake Washington’s Justin Soto nearly scored on a breakaway, with Mercer Island goalkeeper Matt LeProwse getting a hand on the ball for the save. The Kangs threatened with corners of their own in the 34th and 37th minutes, unable to score both times. On a corner opportunity in the final two minutes before the half, Soto put the ball in the net to give the Kangs a 1-0 advantage at halftime.
With their season in the balance, several players became vocal at the break about what was at stake for the Islanders in the game’s final 40 minutes.
“We had some bench players stepping up big, goalkeepers and captains shouting out expectations. Everybody stepped up and pushed us forward into that second half,” Rigby said.
Mercer Island was noticeably more aggressive to open the second half. A Lucas Meek header off a corner opportunity sailed wide left in the 46th minute. In the 50th minute, Ryan Hill drew a penalty kick following a Lake Washington foul in the penalty box. Hill’s shot sailed through to even the score 1-1.
The Islanders didn’t let up. In the 55th minute, midfielder Daniel Espeleta fired a shot at Henrikson, which the Kangs goalkeeper was able to save. Five minutes later, another Espeleta shot from 10 yards out ricocheted off the left post and into the net to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead.
“[At halftime], we told each other, we’re better than this,” Espeleta said. “We showed it during the season, but we’ve been struggling the last two games. But we picked it up, and hopefully we can do that again the next game.”
Lake Washington had its opportunities in the second half, but couldn’t connect. A shot from Alex Todd in the 63rd minute was saved by LeProwse. In the 77th, a shot from Matteo Loi sailed high. Lake Washington had two corner opportunities in the final two minutes, with the Islanders clearing both.
Afterward, Rigby said in a loser-out situation, he was glad to see that urgency from his players on the field.
“Our backs are against the wall. We haven’t had very many games that pushed us to these limits. Now we’ve had two, and we need that experience,” Rigby said. “We need that game-winning attitude, that last-minute defensive effort, we need that spectacular game-winning goal. It’s the stuff that creates champions; working through adversity.”
Mercer Island will take on the fifth-seeded team out of the 3A Metro tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 16 at MIHS. The winner will earn a berth into the state tournament.
