HANOVER — The Century Club is new around here, but membership is already skyrocketing.
South Shore Technical College has been playing women's lacrosse since the spring of 2017. No Viking had ever scored 100 career goals until senior Peyton Mathisen reached that mark with a hat trick against Tri-County on April 29.
Mathisen quickly gained company as classmate Sofia Grasso joined her on Friday. Grasso's first of five goals in a 15-7 win over Abington was the 100th goal of her career.
“I love seeing other people do things like that,” Mathisen said of the club's expansion.
“I was really nervous,” said Grasso, a Hanson resident and fourth-year starter on the offensive line. “But after I saw Peyton do it, I believed in her and I knew I could do it too. But I couldn't have done it without the whole team. Everyone else on the team scored 100 goals. I hope you have a great experience.”
So far, only Mathisen and Grasso are in triple digits, but the Vikings are 14-0, so it feels like anything is possible this spring.
“This team is completely different,” said Mathisen, a midfielder from Abington. “This is the first time I've been with such a great group of girls. They're all very team-oriented and we're both very happy when we achieve milestones like that.”
“It's a dream season,” Grasso agreed. “We're doing great. I've been playing for 12 years and I've never experienced this (type of success). This is definitely something new, but we're up for it. I was confident I could do it.”
Grasso had five goals against Abington (5-9) and would have had more if not for a strong performance from Green Wave goaltender Briel DeJesus. Grasso is up to 35 goals this season. Mathisen, who scored a hat trick on Friday, now has 40 goals. Hannah Nota (17 goals), Lily Berquist (17 goals), Sophie Bovill (15 goals), Kayla Nota (14 goals) and Vera Humphries (10 goals) round out a very deep attack. , helped South Shore reach double-digit goals nine times thus far. season.
“It's tough to play against us,” coach Mike Hernon said. Another person will be there to answer the bell. ”
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The Vikings also boast a talented defense led by goaltender Kaylin Hicks, who is one of eight senior starters. Hernon called her a “rock” and said, “I just know that if she gets back out there, everything will be resolved.”
With all these seniors in the lineup, this is clearly South Shore Tech's best chance to make some noise. The Vikings went 8-9 and missed the 2022 Division 4 playoffs, losing in Division 4. The fourth qualifying round of last spring's off-regular season. 12 wins, 4 losses. South Shore moved up to Div. Despite being No. 3 this season and having a negative impact on the Vikings' power rankings due to scheduling (entering Friday's game at No. 35), they have defeated everything they can.
How rare is that? There are 215 girls lacrosse teams in the MIAA, and South Shore Tech is one of just four in the state still undefeated. Others: Notre Dame Academy (Division 2), Nantucket and Sandwich (both Division 4). Technically, NDA is 14-1, but the Cougars' only loss was to an out-of-state opponent and does not count toward MIAA seeding.
It's a little surprising that the Vikings are in this position considering Hernon, who is filling in for coach Minnie Clark (on maternity leave) this season, has never coached the sport before. But he and assistant Matt Doyle, known as the school's head football coach, pushed the right buttons.
“I'm very impressed with him,” Mathisen said of Hernon. “At the beginning (of the season) you can't expect much from someone who has never coached a women's sport. He had no idea what the game was, but he asked a lot of questions. “I understand. He put in the time. He did a great job of spending his time figuring out what would work best for our team. ”
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The Vikings have many big wins, but are 4-0 in games decided by three goals or less, including last Saturday's 9-8 come-from-behind win over Upper Cape Tech in an undefeated battle. South Shore Tech trailed 7-2 in the game, but Grasso scored in OT to secure the victory.
“I think we're doing really well under pressure,” Mathisen said. “We don’t crack.”
Upper Cape Tech's rematch will be Thursday night in Hanover. The Vikings were scheduled to take a day off this weekend to rest their legs. And on Mondays, we have a bowling party to further strengthen our team bond.
Will Century Club members have an advantage there as well? Maybe not.
When asked who was the best bowler on the team, Grasso said, “Oh, I don't really know. But it's definitely not me.”
When asked the same question, Mathisen said: “I'd say it myself, but I'm going to be proven wrong.”
