Issaquah Notes:
Issaquah 2-2-4-2-1- 11
Bainbridge 4-2-1-3-0- 10

Wow...words won't do justice to this one. This was the definition of playoff lacrosse...throw in any cliche here...tough that someone had to lose this one...

Bainbridge jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first 2:30 of the game. After a timeout, Issaquah regained composure and found the net twice within a minute span. The second came on a great individual effort from Brendon Frye. Bainbridge answered though to lead by two after the first.

In the 2nd quarter, Bainbridge continued to find Ryan VandenMeerendonk open on the crease. He scored two more, giving him 4 of the Spartans 6 first half goals.
Issaquah did manage some momentum before halftime. With a minute left, Mike Gerrard stripped the ball, raced the length of the field and found David Campi for the finish.

Teams traded goals early in the 3rd. With under 4 minutes in the quarter, Issaquah capitalized man-up. An unassisted goal from Jon Matusiefsky tied the game 2 minutes later. Under a minute in the quarter, and Issaquah was man-up again. This time, Nick Tierney found Chris Hutchinson on a perfectly executed play. It was Hutchinson's 3rd of the day and it gave Issaquah its first lead.

Bainbridge tied it a minute into the 4th. Four minutes later, Bainbridge ran a perfect fastbreak, ending in a Delius to VanderHoek tally to give the Spartans the lead again. Shortly after, Issaquah went two men down but was able to kill it off. Just when they thought they had some momentum back, Dylan Masi squeeked one through with 2:19 left and Bainbridge could taste the finals. To make matters worse for Issaquah, a phantom slash on the ensuing face-off put them man-down again. David Vander Hoek almost iced it, but Garrett Johnson made a huge point blank save to keep Issaquah within two.

Shortly after killing off the penalty, Issaquah missed two good chances just wide. Off the restart Matusiefsky drove from 'x' and found a cutting Travis Wright. 10-9 Bainbridge with 49 seconds left. After a short scramble on the faceoff, Dustin Cramer gathered the loose ball and Issaquah called time out. A quick clear, Tierney pushed and was forced wide. He carried toward GLE, found Matt Robson in the slot and Robson quickly redirected it past the goalies ear with 20 seconds left! On to overtime...

Bainbridge won the face-off. After a short possesion, Issaquah knocked it loose, Harrison Shoff picked it up and was hit late on the clearing pass...man-up to Issaquah. Issaquah promptly threw it out of bounds. Bainbridge killed the penalty. The pace was frantic...back and forth, but the play was very sloppy...neither team could possess the ball. After a tough day clearing, Craigh Cornelius finally came up big. He weaved and spun his way up the far sideline but Issaquah could just not maintain possession. Under a minute left, Bainbridge had a fairly good chance on a semi-transition, but Mike Gerrard got a last second check in to send the Bainbridge shot wide. Garrett Johnson won the race to the endline and Issaquah got possession back. After clearing the ball, Issaquah fumbled it near midfield. Matt Robson won a huge groundball and moved it to Matusiefsky to keep possession. With only 10 seconds left, Jon moved the ball to Tierney top center. Tierney made one quick moved and bolted down the left alley. He ripped a lefty shot to the side net with 3 seconds on the clock! Dogpile!!!!

Issaquah just kept fighting...an absolutely great ball game!