Senior lacrosse attackman Tyler McKelvie never thought he would break Keene State College’s all-time scoring record, but on Thursday, March 17, he did exactly that. McKelvie has had 174 goals so far, but there is still a lot of lacrosse left in his senior season.
Head Coach of KSC Men’s Lacrosse Mark Theriault said, “I just think goal scoring comes natural to him, so if he sticks to what he’s doing, he’s going to have a great rest of the career and a ton more points too.”
When it came close to game time Coach Theriault said he didn’t even realize McKelvie was close to breaking the record. “It was funny I didn’t even know it was happening prior until right before the game when the SID [Sports Information Director] told me he was three goals short of breaking the record,” Theriault said.
Theriault said that he doesn’t look at individual stats because he thinks of it more as a “team approach.”
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Theriault continued, “But, when I did get word of it, I wasn’t surprised, but at the same time I was really proud of Tyler because he works really hard every single day.”
McKelvie said the success is within the team. “If we just play as a team; everyone moves the ball very well within our team. If you look at the stats from this year there’s a lot of kids that already have double-digit statistics with just five or six games and that’s huge,” McKelvie said.
McKelvie wasn’t even sure if he was going to play lacrosse his first year at KSC. “Coming in from high school was a huge difference in the game, speed and size of the players. I was always on the smaller end so I’ve learned how to deal with the bigger kids and bigger defenders,” McKelvie said. “I’m the kind of guy that goes in and gets my head chopped off, but it’s worth it in the end if I score or make an assist.”
He continued, “It’s just how I’ve grown, you just learn to deal with different things, you learn how to play with new kids and I have been lucky. I’ve played with Ty [Tyler Reilly] and Rob [Robert Hart] for the past three years together and it’s been incredible. Just the chemistry that we have, even when Rob was out for his ACL, when he came back it was like he had never left. It’s literally incredible and so much fun.”
Teammate and fellow attackman Tyler Reilly said that his chemistry with McKelvie is unbelievable. “I always know where he is at all times and I think when people watch us play they can definitely see that. He makes things really easy for everyone else; he makes the people around him better. It’s just fun to be apart of it,” Reilly said.
McKelvie is one of the two captains on the lacrosse team this year. Theriault said, “His worth ethic is one of the best. He’s one of the kids that will be there early before practice and stays late after practice almost every day. He is a leader, probably one of the biggest impact leaders on our team. But, he does it in a way that’s you know, watch what I’m doing, he leads by example. He’ll do things in regards to the team, when it comes to team gatherings, to if you need someone to meet a recruit, and all the little things he is willing to do all those things.”
McKelvie’s teammates agree with Theriault. Reilly said, “He is a great captain, second to none work ethic. The guy is always doing something to make himself better for the team. He’s a weight room guy; he’s a stick-around and shoot after practice guy and a team first kind of player. He is as dependable as it comes and will do anything for anyone; he is just a great, great kid. I can’t say enough good things about him. That’s why him breaking the all time scoring record the other day, it’s a very well deserving record.”
McKelvie has his eye on the assist record to finish off his senior season. He is just shy, “I’m not sure how close I am to that one maybe 20 or 30 points,” McKelvie said. There are nine games left, not including playoffs in McKelvie’s lacrosse career.
“We’re definitely going to miss him next year. A kid like this doesn’t come around every single day,” Theriault said.
Shelby can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com
