It was a clash of island lacrosse warriors as the Bainbridge High varsity boys team hosted long-time rivals from Mercer Island Friday, April 18.
BHS led in points initially, but was ultimately outplayed by the more experienced Mercer Island team and found themselves on the low side of a 17-6 final score.
Despite the score deficit, both halves of the Spartan Co-head Coach duo of Cody Bludorn and Jack Visco agreed that the boys gave as good as they got and were obviously not bullied on the field.
“I think that was pretty evident in the first quarter,” Bludorn said. “They kind of ran away with it after the second quarter, but for our short numbers and what we have this year we put up a pretty good effort.”
The Mercer players were simply more aggressive offensively, Bludorn said, taking 20 shots in the first half of the game as compared to the eight taken by the Spartans.
“It comes from possession time,” he explained. “We weren’t able to hold on to the ball quite as long [and] they dominated possession. We have to make sure we have possession time on offense.”
Even as they were trailing 7-3 at the half, Bludorn said that the team’s spirits were high.
“I think it was positive,” he said of the team’s mood during halftime. “They understand that Mercer Island puts their pants on in the morning the same as we do, and [we] came out wanting to win in the third quarter. They played hard.”
Though no BHS player was able to score more than one goal, several Spartans contributed to the team’s final score.
Thomas Daniels, Jackson Larkin, Ben LaRoche, Michael Rose and Devon Turner each managed to put one in the net for Bainbridge.
The Spartan who scored the most overall points was Max Wickline, who finished the game with two.
Daniels, Jack Frickleton, Larkin, LaRoche, Michael Rose and Turner each managed to contribute one point.
BHS goalie Reynolds Yarbrough managed 12 saves out of 29 shots.
Bainbridge was officially ranked second in the Metro Conference Division I as of Monday, April 21, with an overall record of 5-5 and a conference record of 4-1.
Eastside Catholic remains ranked in first place with an undefeated overall season record of 11-0.
Behind BHS, in third place, is Seattle Preparatory with an overall season record of 7-3 and a conference record of 3-3.
Bludorn said that from a loss against a skilled team like Mercer Island, the team can learn the importance of maintaining quality play throughout the entire game.
“They can play against [a team like that] if they mature to the point where we played in the first quarter,” he said. “[It’s] the quality of the play that they need to bring in four quarters.”
