Mercer Island Falls to Bellevue in Water Polo, 20-6

by Carol Gullstad

It was a chilly night at the outdoor pool Wednesday night for water polo, but the Bellevue High School boys team was hot and outscored Mercer Island in a 20-6 rout.

Bellevue won the first sprint of the match, establishing a blistering pace the rest of the game. With their to quality opponents, this year appears to be a major rebuilding year and Mercer Island Boys Water Polo.

The Wolverines scored the first goal and kept the pressure on with their first 5 goals going unanswered until the Islanders finally put one in the net on an unassisted Austin Ralph goal mid-way through the first quarter. A relentless Bellevue attack attack put the Wolverines up by a 8-1 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Mercer Island continued to struggle in the second quarter with a series of shots being blocked and going wide. The home side were overwhelmed by the speed and crisp passing of their opponents as the gap became a chasm. Bellevue led 14-2 by half-time.

Boys Water Polo Coach John Jacobson reorganized his team at the half and outscored Bellevue 3-1 in the third quarter with a much stronger defense and a patient offense. Bellevue, however, came out with energy and purpose again in the fourth quarter and racked up more goals and blanked the Islanders to put the game away in decisive fashion. Mercer Island was held to just a few offensive opportunities it had, including a five-meter shot that went wide.

“This was a rough one,” said Jacobson. “We got off to a slow start and got outplayed right away in the first quarter. Although we picked it up in the second half and were able to get on the board, we are still slowly building.” As Jacobson shook his head he remarked, “This is another learning experience but we will get another shot at them when we play at their pool the end of October.”