An old adage states that “To the victor belong the spoils,” and a slew of hard-earned individual spoils have been bestowed upon a bunch of standout players who recently helped the Pinkerton Academy boys’ lacrosse team to its first state championship since 2006.
Longtime PA coach Brian O’Reilly’s 2015 Division I championship team – which defeated the five-time defending champions from Bishop Guertin High School of Nashua in the title match at Exeter High School recently – had seven players receive all-state recognition, two stalwarts get All-American honors, and one standout snare Academic All-American honors following a campaign that won’t soon be forgotten by folks who follow New Hampshire high school lacrosse.
Junior midfielder Brett Dattilo and sophomore defender Cam Richard were named 2015 United States Lacrosse All-Americans, and those two stars are both expected back in the Pinkerton fold next spring as the Astros take aim at repeating as Division I champions.
Star senior midfielder Jack Hanaway – who helped guide O’Reilly’s Pinkerton football team to a state title in the fall as its quarterback and then played a key role in the lax championship in the spring – was named an Academic All-American for 2015 by U.S. Lacrosse.
All three of those talented academy laxmen received all-state recognition as well, with Richard and Dattilo both being named first-teamers along with senior defender Ryan Burke.
Second-team selections from Pinkerton included Hanaway, fellow senior Todd Billetter (an attack) and junior attack James Tully.
The Astros’ lone honorable mention all-stater was one of the linchpins of their fine defense, senior goalie Nick Richard.
The academy stickmen were one of the hottest entities in New Hampshire boys’ lax over the last several months of the D-I season, posting a 15-3 regular season record by winning their final nine matches going into the tournament.
But O’Reilly’s team’s winning run would eventually hit 12 games and include the hoisting of a championship trophy as third-seeded Pinkerton knocked off number six Hanover by a 19-9 tally in the tourney quarterfinals, second-seeded Bedford by an 11-5 count in the semifinals, and finally number one Guertin by a 9-7 score in the title match.
