Bellevue Lacrosse Wins HS State Championship

The following game summary was written by US Lacrosse - Washington

Bellevue High School jumped out to a nine-goal lead in the fourth quarter than held off a late Mercer Island rally as the Wolverines powered to their second consecutive boys state lacrosse title with a 14-11 defeat of rival Mercer Island at the Washington Lacrosse Boys State Championships, Saturday before 2,463 at Seattle’s Memorial Stadium.
 
“This is what we have worked fort all season,” said Bellevue head coach John Baumann who’s squad finished 17-0-0 in state play and 21-2-0 overall.  “This one’s good.  It’s a great group of seniors. To go undefeated in the state is something to be proud of.  We did it.”
 
Senior Cole Johnson and junior Hank Bethke led Bellevue each with four goals and an assist as the Wolverines logged their third boys lacrosse championship in four years and 12th in school history.
 
“This win is all about team work,” said Bellevue senior Cole Johnson who will play NCAA Division I lacrosse at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point next year.  “It’s not a one man team,” he said.
 
Bellevue used nearly its full roster including seven defensemen to take down the Islanders.
 
And with its full team engaged, the Wolverines owned the Islanders from the opening face-off.
 
Bethke and Johnson opened the scoring with back-to-back goals in the first to give the Wolverines an early 2-0 lead with 4:34 to go in the quarter.  Just over two minutes later Mercer Island’s Brett Bottomly put the Islander’s on the board and narrow the Wolverines lead at the close of the quarter.
 
But that would be all for Mercer Island in the first half as Bellevue’s Dakota Jones scored at 10:36 of the second to ignite five straight Bellevue goals, giving the Wolverines a 7-1 lead at the half.
 
In the second half, Bellevue held off two Islander runs and an 80 percent face-off percentage by Mercer Island junior Devlin Conway who won 20 of 25 draws to secure the win.
 
A four-goal spurt by Mercer Island interrupted only by a Bellevue score by Bethke at 7:36 of the third, that included two goals by junior Peter Mahony narrowed the gap to 8-5 with five minutes to go in the quarter.
 
Bellevue closed out the third with Bethke’s third and fourth of the day and scores by Dakota Jones and Johns in the final two minutes to extend its lead to 12-5.
 
Johnson then added his third and fourth of the day in the first three minutes of the fourth to take it to 14-5 before the Islanders came charging back with six late goals.
 
Bellevue goalkeeper kept Bellevue in the game nearly from the start finishing with 18 saves.
 
“Meideiros kept us in it at the beginning,” Baumann said.  “He made some big saves in the first and second periods that made the difference.”
 
Mercer Island was led by junior Chase York with three goals, while Hayden Reisman, Peter Mahony and Brett Bottomly and Justin Rorem all recorded two goals.  Goaltender Benji Rothenberg had five saves.