A late surge by Mercer Island pushed the Islanders in front of Bainbridge for a 13-9 opening-season home win in girls water polo.

The Spartans traded goals with Mercer through much of the earlier periods, and Bainbridge Coach Drew Keller noted that the road game was much closer than the final score indicated.

“We traded goals for the first three quarters,” Keller said.

But despite playing a competitive game, Keller said he saw a few things the team will improve upon in the coming weeks.

Defense, for one.

“We definitely didn’t play our best water polo. We definitely had some things to work on,” he said.

Emily Carson led Bainbridge in a big way. She had five goals, two assists, three steals and one exclusion drawn.

Madeline Arends added three goals and two steals for the Spartans.

Amanda Sellman dished two assists and had a steal, while Spartan teammates Julia Griffiths finished with one goal, three steals and seven saves in goal; and Kayla Estes added four steals and seven saves in goal.