Issaquah Notes:
Issaquah 2-1-2-6- 11
Bainbridge 4-1-1-2- 8

Issaquah avenged its only loss of the season to finish 23-1 and capture the first Division I State Championship in program history!

Fittingly, both teams got off to hot starts to match the 80 degree temperatures. Travis Wright started the scoring for Issaquah, dodging from below GLE. He pushed 'x', rolled back and dipped inside for a lefty dunk over top of Stevenson. Sam Snow equalized for Bainbridge with an inside roll of his own to beat the slide and the keeper. Wright's turn again as he beat two defenders and finished. Then Bainbridge scored three unanswered to jump to a 4-2 lead. The pace of the first quarter was ridiculous. Issaquah had very little true possession and much like the first meeting between these two teams, Bainbridge capitalized on most of Issaquah's mistakes.

The 2nd quarter slowed down big time as the heat began to wear on both sides. Bainbridge pushed to a 5-2 lead on a great individual effort from Kevin Nguyen. More mistakes from Issaquah gave Bainbridge a man-up, but the Spartans squandered the opportunity and gave Issaquah a chance to clear. On the man down clear, Travis Wright found Jake Director breaking from the box and Director turned it into a fast break. Hoping to help kill the penalty, defensive midfielder Kevin Powers found himself up field and ran the point like a veteran attackman. Off a pass from Director, he fed Evan Greenhall and Greenhall put a low bouncer past Stevenson for the man-down goal. The goal was huge as it kept Issaquah in the game heading into halftime.

Issaquah came out of the half extremely slow. The ten minute break hadn't been enough. Issaquah looked like a deer in headlights and struggled to pressure Bainbridge defensively. Bainbridge scored again and pushed back to a 3-goal margin. After a timeout, Issaquah continued to make uncharacteristic mistakes, but got enough sparks to keep in the game. The first spark came from Joey Henderson as he took a pass from Travis Wright, face dodged below GLE and was able to get inside to put one past Stevenson. On the ensuing face-off, defenseman, Michael Pancottine won the groundball and was able to immediately push to goal. No slide came so Pancottine finished himself. Issaquah was back in the game and able to escape the quarter only down one!

The fourth quarter may have been one of the craziest in championship history. Riley Goodman began winning faceoffs and helped swing the momentum Issaquah's way. The slight shift in momentum had given Issaquah life...and they ran with it. Travis Wright again dodged from behind. This time he came around right handed, inside rolled, laid out and stuck the far side net to tie the game. Next up, Alex Bates...Bates forced an over aggressive defender to lose his feet. When the slide came, Bates simply stepped past it and ripped and sidearm shot to the far side, past Stevenson. Shortly after, Jake Director intiated from up top and found Joey Henderson on the crease for the turnaround finish. Then Travis Wright took charge again. This time he dished to Todd Jones and Jones finished from right in front of the cage. A game that was 6-3 Bainbridge midway through the 3rd quarter was now 9-6 Issaquah midway through the 4th!!!

Bainbridge wasn't done though. Jordan Wagner got one back for the Spartans before Issaquah took a penalty. Bainbridge capitalized and cut the lead to one. More mistakes from Issaquah gave Bainbridge an opportunity to tie with about 3 minutes to play, but Nick Yaap came up with a huge save on a shot from Sam Snow. Pancottine quickly cleared to Director who found Jordan Goldstein all alone on the far side of the field. Needing the ball back, Bainbridge immediately looked to pressure, But Goldstein ran by both defenders and dipped to the middle, putting it past Stevenson to push Issaquah back to a 2 goal lead.

Riley Goodman won the next face-off, pushed a quick break and shot wide. On the inbounds, Bainbridge tried to double Bates and had Stevenson out of the cage looking to lock off. Bates found Todd Jones all alone to the side of the goal and Jones finshed on the empty net to all but finish it. Goodman again controlled the next groundball off the face-off and Issaquah ran out the time...2008 State Champs!!!