Issaquah Notes:
Issaquah 1-1-2-0- 4
Mercer 1-2-4-4- 11

This was a decent ball game until midway through the quarter before Mercer scored 6 unaswered over the final 18 minutes to take the decisive win.

The first quarter was dead even as neither team scored for nearly 10 minutes. Brady Hahn made several early saves while Issaquah tried to decipher Mercer's zone defense. Issaquah began to create some good chances but Mercer's Benji Rothenberg was equal to the task. Steen Swedstedt finally broke the ice as Issaquah broke down and failed to slide. Ryan Egland got one right back for Issaquah tough to make it 1-1 after the first.

Issaquah took a brief lead in the second quarter on a skip pass from Matt Thomas to Zach Fritz to break the zone. It was short lived though as Zach Taylor went nearly 60 yards and scored himslef with the pole. Mercer took a lead into halftime off some great ball movement and Swedstedt second.

A scramble off the opening face of the second half was eventually won by the islanders Devlin Conway who found long pole Chase York flying down the middle. The 2nd long stick goal of the night gave Mercer its first two goal lead. Shortly after, Peter Mahony skipped a pass over the top and Justin Rorem's finish made it a 3 goal advantage. Mikey Giannopulus responded on the next faceoff and got one back himself. Issaquah would cut the lead back to one a few minutes later when Matt Thomas pushed a slow developing unsettled situation and fired a high bouncer from just outside 15 yards. Issaquah was back in the game and it looked for a moment that this could be a good one til the finish.

Unfortunately this is where the brain shut off on the defensive end for Issaquah. Off a missed shot, Cooper Johnson picked up a ball on the endline... to his surprise no one stepped to guard him so he literally ran untouched from the endline to in front of the goal and scored himself. It was absolutely astonishing. Momements later, Issaquah won a tough groundball in its own end and inexplicably threw it to a mercer attackamn right in front of an open net as keeper Brady Hahn had been out helping win the groundball. Thos two goals swung the momentum heavily.

The fourth quarter started in hard luck fashion for Issaquah as the refereees missed the ball touching the ground on a flag down situation and Mercer capitalized to go up four. Broken, Issaquah fell apart and Mercer ran away with it.