The Mercer Island boys water polo team advanced to state as the No. 2 seed out of the north/east region after falling to Bellevue 9-4 in the region final.
The Islanders skated through the first two rounds of regionals, smothering Auburn 21-2 and Shorewood 23-5 before meeting up with old nemesis Bellevue.
In the region final, the Islanders and Wolverines dueled to a scoreless first quarter. The Wolverines’ Mario Abdel Shahed broke the game open in the second quarter, striking on a man-up play followed by a Jack Witham goal to go up 2-0. The Islanders found the net at 4:06 when Killian Riley scored on man-up. Erik Raisys hit the second Islander goal at man-up to pull even at 2-2 until Bellevue’s Cameron Hayes struck at 2:26. The Islanders ended the half down 3-2. That was as close as the Islanders would get the rest of the game.
The Wolverines stingy defense held the Islanders scoreless once more in a quarter to end the third ahead 5-2. The Islanders could not stop a four-goal flurry by Bellevue in the final quarter. The Islanders got on the board only twice — Jacob Guedel at 4:50 on man-up and Nic Lacrampe in the closing seconds to end the game with a 9-4 loss.
The Islanders play Gig Harbor at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 10 in the first round of the state tournament at Curtis High School.
Bellevue vs. MI goals
Mercer Island: Raisys 1, Riley 1, Guedel 1, Lacrampe 1
Bellevue: Hainze 2, Abdel Shahed 2, Foster 1, Geffe 1, Cvitkovic 1, Hayes 1
-By Carol Gullstad, Special to the Reporter