Duke Biggers scored all three of Mercer Island’s goals to lead the Islanders to a 3-1 win over the Mount Si boys’ varsity soccer team in the KingCo 3A home opener for the Wildcats.

Mount Si started the game by controlling the flow for most of the first 15 minutes. During that time, the Wildcats spent most of it in the Mercer Island half of the field, and that strong offensive pressure resulted in a goal for Mount Si.

Pete Talevich scored the opening goal for the Wildcats 29 minutes in; he cut right through the Islander defense and kicked the ball past the goalkeeper.

Then the Islanders took over, both on the scoreboard and in the control of the tempo. Biggers scored his first goal for the Islanders seven minutes later, and the half ended with a 1-1 tie.

Mercer Island increased its level of play in the second half. Biggers scored his next goal fairly quickly on a rebound five minutes into the second half, and that gave the Islanders the lead for good at 2-1.

The Islanders turned up their defense and Mount Si could not break through until late when the Wildcats had a couple of good scoring opportunities, but were denied. Biggers then scored his third goal to give Mercer Island insurance.

Wildcat coach Glenn Cramer was disappointed in the missed chances.

“We kind of missed our opportunities in the first part of the first half and had some opportunities to score, but kind of missed them there,” he said. “Yeah, they put a little pressure on us and [we were] unable to convert.”

Defender Brad Falcon also was disappointed, but recognized that the Islanders were tough.

“They’re a pretty good team. I mean, we definitely had a chance,” he said. “We had a couple of slip-ups back there – miscommunications between the goalie and I, and the rest of the [defense] … But we can get them next time.”

The referees didn’t necessarily help the cause, either. Several calls were criticized by the small crowd, but a yellow card issued to Mount Si late in the second half got the ire of both coaches Cramer and Bev Jorgensen. The card was issued after a scoring chance for the Wildcats was stopped by the Islander goalie, but not until after he got tangled with the Wildcat player and tumbled, landing head first on the grass.

The next game for Mount Si is Saturday when the Wildcats host Skyline in an afternoon matinee at 2 p.m. at Mount Si High School.