Lock and Load, by McNutty

SoundLacrosse gallery of the game

Eastside Catholic, D1′s most surprising team in 2012, #2 seed and winners of nine games in a row, got throttled on Tuesday 18-2 by Mercer Island. What’s the verdict? An aberration, overrated, feet of clay, or are the Islanders just that good?

MI's Tsang (21) and York (11) locked down EC's sophomores MacIlvennie (12) and Komenda (3) all night

Personally, I think they’re high school boys, they should be expected and allowed to lay an egg now and then. But don’t minimize the coaching and execution that MI brought to the game. The total lockdown of Colin MacIlvennie and Ross Komenda worked like a charm, and no other Crusaders were able to shoulder the offensive load. MI pole Chase York put his back to the field and his nose six inches away from Komenda’s, shadowing him everywhere on the field. Brett Tsang did the same thing to MacIlvennie and it worked like a charm. Komenda was held pointless for the first time since the Crusaders’ loss to Issaquah and MacIlvennie was shut out for the first time since, oh, Mercer Island did it last season.

Connor Bernal, one of the best all-round middies in the state, had five goals

Offensively the Islanders rev’d it up from Saturday night’s game against Bellevue. Connor Bernal, one of the best all-round middies in the state, had five goals. Peter Mahony had four, Steen Swedstedt had three as did senior Alex Robbs, to go with his two assists. Grant Preisler was an assist machine, garnering five and one goal, to lead the team with six points.

Frustrations boiled up a bit as the game lingered on, play got a little rough but WALAO officials Harlan Worden and Erik Smith got it quickly under control and settled down. An observant reader of these posts will notice that was not mentioned as a highlight of Saturday night’s contest on the Island.

MI sophomore Peter Mahoney had 4 goals and did FOSO duty as well.

The Islanders next host Lake Tapps, in a Friday night game that will determine the #1 & #2 seeds in the Southwest Conference. The Crusaders can relax and regroup a bit, as they have clinched the #3 seed in the Northeast Conference and they  have Senior Night on Thursday, as the Woodinville Falcons make a visit in their last game of the regular season.