Not even the rain could cool off the offense of the Mercer Island boys soccer team Friday night, as the Islanders beat the Interlake Saints 6-1 at Interlake High School. With the win, Mercer Island improved to 3-0-0 in the KingCo conference and 3-1-1 on the season.
“It’s tough to have a good offense if you don’t have things come together, and tonight everything came together,” said head coach Colin Rigby after the game. “What we really hope to do is turn this into a trend, where we can consistently get goals like this.”
Peter Battisti got things started for the Islanders with a goal in the game’s 3rd minute off an assist from Daniel Sims. Nate Schuler struck next, scoring in the 10th minute. Interlake got on the board just before halftime with a goal from Austin Ball in the 32nd minute, making it a 2-1 game heading into the half.
But it was all Islanders in the second half, with Derek Sims scoring in the 48th minute and Battisti striking again in the game’s 56th minute. A ball from Cray Bryan saw the back of the net in the 77th minute, and Matthew Hanson immediately followed Bryan’s strike with a goal of his own a minute later.
Rigby attributed his team’s offensive firepower Friday to “good clinical finishes,” putting away goals that should be scored with well-executed corner kicks and great shots from the top. After watching his team score 6 goals after putting up 5 earlier in the week, Rigby had good things to say about the Islanders’ start to the season.
“It’s great. In the regular season, we’ve let in one goal. We’ve scored [12],” he said. “So, we’re pretty happy with it. The big games are the rivalry ones. The Mount Si’s, the Bellevue’s, the Liberty’s, those are the games that anything can happen because there’s so much adrenaline and so much excitement for the game. We’re excited for those games and they’re really going to be the keys to the season. If we can get through those and finish the season strong through spring break, we’ll be in good shape.”
Next up, the Islanders will host Juanita at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 1 at Islander Stadium. 
Mercer Island’s Alex Zhu advances through Interlake defenders during the Islanders’ 6-1 win Friday, March 28 at Interlake High School (photo by Joseph Livarchik).
