After the first 12 minutes of play the Mercer Island Islanders and Bellevue Wolverines girls lacrosse teams were tied at 2-2.

The close contest between rivals didn’t last long.

Mercer Island outscored Bellevue 15-1 in the final 38 minutes of play en route to a 17-3 victory on April 20 at Bellevue High School. The Islanders improved its overall record to 5-3 with the win. Islanders player Tessa Guerra, who scored a game-high five goals, was glad her team found its stride after a slow start.

“We talked about working as a team and settling the ball down in attack because we knew if we rushed things we were just going to make mistakes and they were going to get the opportunity to get ahead of us. It was about having patience, working together, getting the ball off the draw and just moving it down to score goals,” Guerra said.

Mercer Island head coach Lyndsey Gillis was proud of her team’s performance against one of their biggest rivals.

“We had a slow start but I think the girls found their rhythm. We just needed some more movement on the field so the girls could work together which they did in the second half,” Gillis said. “We always love coming over here and playing Bellevue. It has always been a good rivalry. I love seeing the girls on both sides compete head to head.”

Mercer Island’s Katie Brodsky scored four goals and Elise Marks added three goals in the win. Julia Nordstrom added two goals and Claire Underwood, Polly Schaps and Leah Paborsky each scored a goal in the victory.

Mercer Island goalie Alle Dunbar, who surrendered just three goals, made countless saves against the Wolverines.

“Alle is a very good goalie, a very good athlete and a very good team leader. She stepped up big and had some really good momentum changers for us in terms of when she made her saves and coming out of the cage and making some plays in transition,” Gillis said of Dunbar.

Guerra said she has 100 percent confidence in Dunbar between the posts.

“I know that she can see the ball well. She knows exactly where its going and has the confidence to run out, see the field and have confidence in our defenders,” she said.

Bellevue players Abby Parrish, Lily Weingaertner and Christina McMillan each recorded a goal in the loss.