Issaquah High lacrosse has tough act to follow — itself
April 13, 2009
By Bob Taylor
The Issaquah High Lacrosse Club knew it was going into this spring with a big bull’s-eye on it. After winning the Washington State High School Lacrosse Division I title last year, the Eagles figure to be every opponent’s major target.
But thus far, Issaquah has handled the pressure of being a defending state champion. Issaquah entered this week with a 6-1 record. The loss came in a nonleague game. In league play, Issaquah sports a 4-0 mark.
But repeating as state champions and duplicating a remarkable 23-1 record could be a tough act to repeat. Issaquah won its first Division 1 title with an 11-8 victory against Bainbridge, which was responsible for Issaquah’s lone defeat.
“Last year was a great ride,” Issaquah coach Brandon Fortier said. “We avenged our only loss in the state championship game with a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback. It will be hard to duplicate last year’s season.”
Issaquah saw a talented corps of seniors graduate last spring.
However, Issaquah isn’t depleted of all of its talent. Four top seniors — Connor McClain, Jake Director, Jordan Goldstein and Riley Goodman — return. Fortier said he considers McClain, a long stick midfielder, as perhaps the best defender in the state. Director, Goldstein and Goodman are potent scorers. In league play, Director has been Issaquah’s top scorer, with eight goals.
“We are going to need our attack to step up. This is one of the places we have a huge hole,” Fortier said.
Other key players returning include junior attack Todd Jones, sophomore attack Jake Fritz and sophomore midfielder Kevin Powers, who had four goals in Issaquah’s league-opening 18-0 rout of Garfield.
Fortier is also counting on contributions from freshmen Ben Director, a midfielder; Duncan Hamilton, a defensive midfielder; Matt O’Neill, attack; and Kole Lindor, a midfielder.
Sophomore Tyler Lucas, and juniors Michael Green and Phillip Hamilton should anchor the defense.
Fortier said he thought the team might struggle a bit during the early part of this season while some of the players grow into their roles. However, Issaquah, after its loss in the second game of the season, responded with four straight league triumphs. Issaquah cruised by Garfield, Seattle Prep 16-4, Puyallup 10-2 and Northshore 16-4. Issaquah also defeated Mukilteo 13-3 in a nonleague game.
The toughest part of the schedule lies ahead with key games against Mercer Island on April 24 at Mercer Island and April 28 at home against Bainbridge.
“Our seniors will have to do a great job of leading, but they are a great group and they will carry us to start the year,” Fortier said. “By midseason, I think we could be pretty good.
“I think, on paper, we are a step behind Mercer Island and Bainbridge,” he added, “but we will certainly be competitive and could challenge to make it back to the title game.”
Spartans look strong, too
Skyline entered this season coming off of a strong year, too. The Spartans compiled a 17-5 record last spring and made it to the Division 1 state semifinals, where they lost to Bainbridge.
The Spartans entered this week with a 5-4 overall record and a 2-2 league ledger. Skyline’s league victories were against Seattle Prep 10-6 and Lakeside 11-6.
Skyline has one of the league’s top players returning in Calvin Wiley, who ranks among the top scorers with 15 goals.
The Spartans completed a successful road trip to Oregon last week with victories against Glencoe 14-6 and Wilsonville 10-3. In the contest with Wilsonville, Brennan West scored three goals and Wiley had two. Spencer Matches provided a solid all-around effort with 1 goal, two assists and 10 ground balls.
Comments
Got something to say?
Before you comment, please note:
- These comments are moderated.
- Comments should be relevant to the topic at hand and contribute to its discussion.
- Personal attacks and/or excessive profanity will not be tolerated and such comments will not be approved.
- This is not your personal chat room or forum, so please stay on topic.
