VIDEO: Tyler Kline’s late goal helps South Shore Tech win voke crown
The senior midfielder from Abington snapped an 8-8 tie with 2:12 remaining, and the Vikings held on to beat Old Colony, 10-9, in the title game.
HANOVER – Among the many things he likes about the South Shore Tech boys lacrosse team that he captains, Todd Egan said, is that these Vikings don’t get rattled. As he put it, “We’ve been poised all year.”
So when Old Colony, which hadn’t led since late in the first quarter, stormed back with a pair of late fourth-quarter goals to tie up Wednesday night’s small-school state vocational final, Egan and his teammates didn’t get flustered.
“We just said, ‘Get the next one and we’ll be right back up,'” coach Mike Clark recalled. “We didn’t want to stress about it. We didn’t want to panic. Just continue to play and get the next goal.”
Enter Tyler Kline.
The senior midfielder from Abington wasted little time in restoring order. He scored just 44 seconds later to put the Vikings back in front with 2:12 remaining and then added an insurance goal about a minute after that. That second strike, his fourth of the game, turned out to be the winner as South Shore Tech held off Old Colony, 10-9, to claim the program’s first voke crown since 2018.
“It’s been a few years,” said Clark, who was a first-year coach the last time the Vikings hoisted the trophy. “It’s just really a testament to this group that we have. In the spring season when the weather gets nice out and the seniors are graduating and what-not, it’s not easy to keep focused, but these guys have worked their butts off the entire season and just continued to get stronger throughout the year.”
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South Shore Tech (18-1) avenged its lone loss of the season — a 7-5 setback at home to Old Colony on May 1. The Mayflower Athletic Conference rivals split their two regular-season meetings with the Vikings prevailing, 9-8, in Rochester in late April.
The third meeting was just as tense, even though South Shore Tech appeared to be pulling away, up 7-4 on a James Hoey goal late in the third quarter.
In the end, Kline had to save the day.
“I wasn’t worried,” Kline said of his emotions when Old Colony (16-4) knotted the score. “I heard Todd saying that it didn’t matter. We’d been dominating the whole game, so we knew we were going to get that extra goal and win.”
“He always comes up huge ” senior goalie Tanner Graden, who had an excellent game himself, said of Kline’s heroics. “He’s good. He wins every faceoff for us. He goes right down the middle and can dodge five kids and score.”
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“Love it,” Egan said of Kline grabbing the spotlight. “That’s my brother. We’re going to college together (Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, where they will be roommates). He’s MVP (tonight) for sure.”
Egan added a hat trick, pushing his team-high goal total to 75 for the season. Ben Tondorf, a junior attack from Scituate, scored twice to give him 65 goals on the year. Kline is up to 42, and Eamon Haley has 30. That diverse firepower has served the Vikings well.
“It’s amazing,” Egan said. “Obviously, I’m the leading the scorer, but that’s only because I get the most opportunities. Any of those (other) guys can score at will. I think a couple of those guys have a better outside shot than me. (Freshman) Jaxon Hoey, absolute rocket. Eamon, probably the best crease finisher in the league. He’s a beast. They all are.”
Clark called the voke title a “good confidence-booster” going into the MIAA playoffs. South Shore Tech, which is riding an eight-game winning streak, is seeded No. 19 in the Division 4 field and will play at No. 14 Advanced Math & Science Charter Academy (details TBA) in the Round of 32. The Vikings won a preliminary round game in last year’s tournament before falling to Abington.
“We’ve peaked at the right time,” Egan said. “We just need that energy to continue into the MIAAs.”
