Georgetown University bound Issaquah senior Mikey Giannopulus rose to the occasion with his team’s season on the line against one their biggest rivals.

Giannopulus, who scored a game-high four goals, led Issaquah to a convincing 9-3 win against the Eastside Catholic Crusaders in the Washington Lacrosse  Division 1 high school quarterfinals on May 21 at Eastside Catholic High School in Sammamish.

Issaquah bolted out to a 5-0 lead in the second quarter.

Eastside Catholic didn’t record its first goal until Zack Steffens found the back of the net with 1:31 left in the second quarter, cutting Issaquah’s lead to 5-1.

The Crusaders cut Issaquah’s lead to three goals on two occasions in the third quarter but couldn’t get any closer. Giannopulus said it was probably one of the most complete games his team has played all year.

“It feels great. We always tend to have a quarter where we are just playing awesome but today we were able to keep rolling with it,” Giannopulus said. “At the end of the day it just means a lot to take this one (win) home.”

Issaquah head coach Brandon Fortier said Giannopulus epitomized what it meant to be a leader in the most critical contest of the 2015 season to date.  Everything was on the line and Giannoplus rose to the occassion for his team when they needed it the most.

“I just told him as he walked over here that it was the best job he’s done of being a leader all year. We kind of had leadership issues collectively earlier in the season and the way he performed today was a big time key,” Fortier said.

Issaquah goalie Jordan Dondoyano surrendered just three goals against Eastside Catholic’s high octane offense.

Steffens scored two goals for the Crusaders and James Wehe recorded one goal. Issaquah’s Ryan Egland scored two goals while Anthony O’Reilly, Liam Colter and Jake Gonzalez scored a goal apiece.

“Whenever they got a goal, we were able to get one back. That gave our defense a lot of confidence. The defense played awesome,” Fortier said.

The Eagles will face the Mercer Island Islanders in the semifinals on May 27.

“We’re just going to take it one game at a time. We are excited to face Mercer and compete against them. We want to let them know who we are,” Giannopulus said on May 21.

Fortier said his team is looking forward to its rematch against Mercer Island.

“I’m sure the guys are thrilled. We were pretty disappointed with what happened the last time we played them. I think this game is a confidence booster. It will certainly be another great game,” Fortier said.

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com