MUKILTEO – Riding a 15 game winning streak heading into Friday’s Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association Division I quarterfinal matchup, Kamiak ran into a red-hot Issaquah squad dropping a 12-5 decision at Kamiak High School as the Eagles advanced to the state semifinals.
The Knights fell behind early to an Issaquah squad that has now won 11 straight, eventually trailing 9-1 at the half then gave up three more in the third before finally getting on track in the fourth.
“They (Issaquah) moved it around pretty well. We couldn’t stop their shooters from up top,” said Knights head coach Mike Harlow who made several adjustments at the intermission to adjust to the high scoring Eagles.
Trailing 12-1 heading into the final quarter Harlow moved senior defender Coleman Grayson into the long-stick midfield position and replaced faceoff specialist Jackson Finnerty, who had only won two draws in the first half, with Andrey Prikhodko.
Prikhodko, a senior midfielder, made a difference right away giving the Knights key possessions — and confidence, winning five draws in the second half and setting the state for four unanswered goals in the final quarter.
“It was a vital move on our part,” Harlow said.
In the fourth, sophomore Ben Barton scored just 1:14 into the quarter followed by an Anthany Smith scored just 23 seconds later to make it 12-3. Junior Alex Indelicato then made it 12-4 with 4:22 to go.
“We tried to take advantage of their defense,” said Indelicato, who led the Knights with two goals and an assist. “Even though we were down by so much we really wanted to go out with a bang and end the season right.”
Barton scored his second of the night with 3:08 to go to bring it to 12-5 but that would be all for the Knights.
Knight’s goaltender Joseph Prikodko held the Eagles scoreless in the final quarter. He eventually finished with 18 saves.
“Prikhodko was absolutely on fire,” Harlow said. “He stood on his head all night to keep us in the game.”
It was the third loss in the Knights’ three games against Issaquah – all of them by wide margins. In 2013 Kamiak fell 11-4 to the Eagles after dropping a 17-2 decision in 2012.
Issaquah was led by Jake Lindahl, Cody Klansnic and Jake Gonzalez all with three goals.
The Eagles move on to a Wednesday state semifinal matchup with Eastside Catholic, which downed defending state champion Mercer Island 12-6 on Friday. Game time at the Eastside Catholic School in Sammamish is 8 p.m.
The 2016 Washington State Boys High School Lacrosse Championships take place Saturday, May 28 at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila.
At Kamiak H.S.
Issaquah—Jake Lindahl (3 G, 1 A); Cody Klansnic (3 G, 1 A), Jake Gonzalez (3 G). Kamiak—Alex Indelicato (2 G, 1 A); Ben Barton (2 G). Records—Issaquah 18-4 overall. Kamiak 15-2.
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