Trailing Issaquah by a goal with the final two minutes of their state tournament semifinal ticking away, Mercer Island needed to change its fortune at the faceoff line. Standing in their way was Issaquah senior midfielder and Georgetown-commit Mikey Giannopulos, who had been dominant controlling the ball throughout.
With its season on the line, Mercer Island went back to the person they counted on all year. And when his team needed it most, he didn’t let them down.
Jack Vassau secured two big faceoffs late and Brett Bottomley capped a three-goal Islander rally to send Mercer Island boys lacrosse to its first state title game since 2013, as the Islanders overcame Issaquah 11-10 Wednesday night at Islander Stadium.
Mercer Island’s final three goals came with just over two minutes left in regulation, in a game that frequently saw the Islanders on their heels defensively.
“If you can’t get the ball, you can’t win,” Islander coach Ian O’Hearn said. “It took us a long time to counter what [Giannopulos] was doing, but once we got the ball, we could score. We just needed the ball.”
Issaquah built a 3-0 first-quarter lead behind Giannopulos, who snatched the first four faceoffs to deny Vassau and the Islanders offensive possession. Evan Condon took over faceoff duty, winning six ball controls in the second quarter. Mercer Island came back with a six-goal scoring spree, with three goals coming from Bryan Glant, as the Islanders took a 6-5 halftime advantage.
Issaquah responded after the break with three scores in the third quarter to claim an 8-7 lead. In the fourth, goals from Jake Lindahl and Anthony O’Reilly extended Issaquah’s advantage to 10-8 with just over four minutes to go. Glant brought the Islanders within one two minutes later, leaving the Islanders with the task they struggled with all game: securing the faceoff. Vassau stepped in, grabbing two big ones to bring the Islanders back into the game.
“It’s all mental,” Vassau said. “I just had the mindset that I needed to get us to this championship, there was no option to lose. So I went out there with that mindset and we got it done.”
Thirty seconds later, Jack Counihan tied the game with a shot from the left side. Vassau won the ensuing faceoff, leading to Brett Bottomley giving the Islanders their final lead with 56 seconds remaining. Issaquah had one last opportunity, but couldn’t shoot past Islander goalie Ezra Tillinger.
Glant finished with four goals to lead the Islanders, while Condon had three goals and two assists, and Bottomley posted two goals and three assists. Lindahl led Issaquah with four goals, while Giannopulos scored twice, picked up ten ground balls and helped Issaquah to a 14-11 faceoff advantage.
But it was the two instances Vassau came through that helped Mercer Island turn the game around.
“When we needed Jack the most, he stepped up,” Bottomley said. “He just stepped up the whole year. It doesn’t matter if he’s taken one faceoff or twenty the whole game, he can come in and get it done.”
Mercer Island will take on rival and defending state champs Bellevue for the Div. I boys lacrosse state championship at 8 p.m. Sunday, May 31 at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. Bellevue (16-4, 10-0) dealt Mercer Island its lone loss of the season, a 13-9 contest May 4 at BHS, and is gunning for a fourth-straight state title.
