The Mercer Island boys soccer team may have already proven that it is the team to beat — at any level. Two weeks into the season, the Islanders are 5-0-1 with three victories against 4A schools and two big in-league wins.

“We have been playing real well,” said Mercer Island coach Steve Newman. “We stumbled a bit against Bellevue, but any win is a good win.”

The game against Bellevue on March 24 was the worst for the Islanders in the young season, said Newman, despite a 1-0 shutout of the Islanders’ biggest remaining 3A KingCo rival.

The only goal was scored by Chris Morris, who is emerging as an offensive force.

“He played well for us last year, and he has been playing well this season,” said Newman. “We have a few guys that have been playing well, but we need to get other people to step up so we can stay out of double teams.”

The Islanders picked it up on offense against Liberty on Friday, blasting the league opponent, 5-0. Morris scored a hat trick with three goals during the game.

“The best defense is a great offense, and we showed that,” said Newman. “It could have easily been 8 or 9 [goals], but their keeper made some great saves.”

The Islanders showed that they have a lot of depth as they blasted three 4A squads. Former league rival, Newport, fell hard to the Islanders, 3-0, on March 21. Skyline didn’t fare any better than the Knights, losing 3-0 on March 16 to start the season, and despite scoring a goal, Lake Washington had no answers in a 2-1 loss on March 18.

Eastlake was the only team to play Mercer Island tough, as Islander girls coach Steve Gervais, coaching the Eastlake boys, managed to spar with Newman to a 2-2 tie.

Mercer Island will continue with in-league competition this week, as the team played Mount Si on Tuesday (after Reporter deadline) and will take on the Totems at Sammamish High School at 7:30 p.m., Friday.

“We have chance to make a dent,” said Newman.

The Islanders will have to get those wins without a few players, as this is spring break for the high school and many students are on vacation.

“We have a lot of depth this year,” said Newman. “But we will have to play smart.”