The Mercer Island girls lacrosse team earned its first playoff victory in four years on May 13 against Tacoma, 12-11. But a loss two days later to Bainbridge Island, 21-11, had a feeling of deja vu as the Spartans have ended the Islanders’ postseason dreams twice.

“The win shows that even though we weren’t at the top of the league this year, we were able to get to the next round and make progress,” said Mercer Island coach Meg Elston.

The Islanders made progress from game to game as they lost to Tacoma during the final regular-season contest.

But the playoff game was a test of wills between two evenly matched teams.

The Tigers came out strong, testing the Islander defense with five shots-on-goal. Jessica Swartz earned three saves as the offense got on track.

Mercer Island senior Laura Maruhashi scored the first goal of the game and Caroline Mahony made it 2-0 two minutes later .

“This was a really exciting game,” said Maruhashi. “We knew that we would have to work together in order to beat them.”

Team work went both ways as the Tigers eventually took a 6-4 halftime lead. The Islanders would tie the game at 8-8 on free position goals by Tiffani Louie and Mahony.

From there Mercer Island dominated the time of possession, building a 12-8 lead.

The Tigers would make a charge but come up short during the final three minutes.

Mahony earned all-American status as a junior this season. She becomes the first female lacrosse player from Mercer Island to earn the honor.

“It really means a lot to me because I want to play on college,” said Mahony.