Friday, Mar. 15, the Mercer Island Girls Lacrosse team took down Lake Sammamish 12-4 in their home opener in front of a big and spirited crowd. The win improved the Islanders to a 2-0 record.
“I felt very good about the first home game win and it made me very hopeful for the season ahead,” senior captain Erica Kierstead said.
The win comes off the heels of another victory against NSI, a three school team made up of Newport, Sammamish and Interlake. For that game the story was similar; the Islanders scored 18 goals to a measly four from NSI.
Kierstead, a veteran and senior on the team, along with star talent sophomore Chelsea Cho, both lead the team with four goals just two games into the season. The team lost 11 seniors going into this year and is now leaning onto a lot of younger players.
“It really does not feel like we lost as many seniors as we did because we have a few underclassmen stepping up,” Kierstead said.
This year’s team has two freshmen on the varsity roster; Camilla Manfredo and Lulu Carr. Their inclusion to the team has been pivotal for the new group, but Kierstead still wants her team to play with more maturity.
“Our team chemistry is great, and both offense and defense are coming together really well,” she said. “However, there definitely are moments of hiccups because we are a younger team.”
Up next for the Islanders is a home game against Roosevelt High School at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Mar. 19.
“I’m really excited to play Roosevelt and SAAS because those were the hardest games last year,” Kierstead said. “I’m very interested to see how they have changed, and if we can stay just as competitive with them.”
Roosevelt was runner up last year for 3A, losing to SAAS 17-8 in the State Championship (Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences). They also were the last team to beat the Islanders, knocking them off in the state semifinal game in 2023.
