A way-too-early look at the 2020 boys lacrosse season

Brian O'Reilly didn't seem too concerned about the future as he stood in the middle of the postgame media scrum following the Pinkerton Academy boys lacrosse team's win in the Division I championship game.

While that's not exactly the time to be contemplating a season that doesn't start practice for another nine months, there may have been other reasons the longtime Astros coach didn't want to look too far ahead.

Ever since O'Reilly was named the athletic director at Pinkerton in 2016, every lacrosse - and football - season has ended with the same question.

Will he be back for another year as the head coach?

"I’ll make my decisions when I need to make my decisions," O'Reilly said. "This game is about these kids and the way they play and everything written should be about these kids and how they play. Nothing else will be discussed until far down in the future."

If this year's championship game - which was the seventh straight meeting between Pinkerton and Bishop Guertin in the D1 final - was O'Reilly's final lacrosse game as the Astros coach, it will be bittersweet for Cardinals coach Chris Cameron.

"If it is (O’Reilly’s last game), it was certainly a rivalry that I looked forward to each time we played them, whether it was during the regular season or in the championship," Cameron said. "It’s something I’ll miss, but he will have his footprint on the program.

"They’re not just a team, they’re a program. They do things the right way and they have kids coming in from feeder programs all over. He did a great job with that program and for lacrosse, to get it to where it’s at here."

Even with a coaching change for Pinkerton, the Astros and the Cardinals would seem to be the safe bet for an eighth-straight meeting in the D1 title game. Here's a look at what else might happen in 2020, without considering any other possible player or coach movement.

Division I

A year after graduating more than 20 seniors last year, Bishop Guertin loses 10 from the 2019 team, but only two - Chris Kiely and Alex Koutsos - made major contributions. The Cardinals should have three All-Americans returning with Sean Cameron, Ben Abladian and James Heitmiller finishing up their junior year, along with Joey Lupo and Matt Frechette.

Meanwhile, Pinkerton has eight graduating seniors, many of which were major contributors the last two years, including Ryan Auger, Gennaro Marra, Jacob McAdams and Tom McGarrahan, who were all first-team all-state this year. But the Astros should also have a solid group of juniors returning, led by Mason Drouin, Connor McCormack, Dom Zirn and Jonathan Holland.

Exeter has been the team with the best chance to challenge the top two for the last couple of seasons, but hasn't been able to break through. While the Blue Hawks lose some key seniors, including Wyatt Carr, Connor Flanagan and Sawyer Lasewicz, they should have plenty back around goalie Henry Vogt and middie Spencer Clark to make another run at Bishop Guertin and Pinkerton.

Souhegan loses some key pieces to graduation, but injuries forced the Sabers to go young on defense at times, allowing underclassmen Will Darnall, Billy Davidson and Luke Manning to gain valuable experience. With 10 freshmen on the varsity roster this year, Souhegan should have a little more depth across the board next season.

Hanover will need to find a replacement for goalie Mason Winter, along with six other seniors from a small roster. Londonderry graduates 13 seniors from this year's roster and Concord loses six, including Brendan Pearl, but both teams appear to have some promising underclassmen.

Nashua South should return its entire offense from this season, and while the Panthers had four seniors graduate, they should be able to fill those holes. Timberlane will have one more year of Matt Licata and Cody Fleming running the offense, but goalie could be a question mark for the Owls, while Bedford should be improved after missing the playoffs this year.

• Our way-too-early prediction for next year's playoff teams: Bedford, Bishop Guertin, Exeter, Hanover, Londonderry, Nashua South, Pinkerton, Souhegan, Timberlane.

Division II

Since moving up in 2015, Derryfield has played in five straight title games, winning the last four, and the Cougars will be looked at as a favorite going into next season, despite having big holes to fill.

Derryfield has enough talent returning, including would-be seniors Jacob Scholten, Henry Howe, Matt Weimer and Gunnar Senatore and would-be juniors Chas Dean, Connor O'Brien, Will Hadley and Ryan Etzo to stay at the top of the standings. But the gap between everyone else might be a lot closer.

Winnacunnet loses some key pieces of its defense, including Joe MacDougall and Lou Granger, along with Josh Chase and Tyler Hoar. But the Warriors have a good foundation set to return, led by Jack Ellis, Gavin O'Hara, Ben Merrick and goalie Carter Renaud. All but O'Hara were sophomores this year.

Portsmouth will have a huge hole to fill with the graduation of Cole Brams, as will Goffstown, with middies Nick Mason and Griffin Cook also graduating, but both have some solid pieces in place to remain contenders. Hollis Brookline had 12 freshmen on its roster this season and another year of experience should help keep the Cavaliers among the top teams.

Windham should be a team on the rise with the return of juniors Jake Rust and Parker Rice and sophomore Nate Levine. Goalie Bobby DiCicco, who was in his first year of lacrosse, improved as the year went along and the defense already learned how to play without Cody Stevens, who missed almost the entire year with a knee injury.

St. Thomas, Kingswood, Merrimack and Merrimack Valley should also be teams to keep an eye on in 2020.

• Our way-too-early prediction for next year's playoff teams: Bow, Coe-Brown, Derryfield, Goffstown, Hollis Brookline, John Stark, Kingswood, Merrimack, Merrimack Valley, Oyster River, Portsmouth, St. Thomas, Windham, Winnacunnet.

Division III

The target on Hopkinton just continues to grow bigger, as the Hawks have now won three straight titles and have won 50 of their last 51 games. There's plenty of reason for it, as long as Hopkinton has Colby Quiet, Steven Newton-Delgado and goalie Benny Madden still in the mix.

Despite losing eight seniors from this year's runner-up, Pelham will have talent returning, including Charlie Katin and Mason Fecteau to stay in contention. The other two final four teams, Monadnock and Laconia, will be hit hard by graduation and could take a step back in 2020.

Trinity loses a half-dozen players to graduation as well, but the Pioneers had a young roster otherwise and should have all-state performers Mica Buck, Dillon Brown and Greg Fallon returning.

Two teams coming off their first postseason appearances could take step forward. Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough will likely have Liam Brown and Max Hentz returning after making the playoffs this year, while Campbell, despite losing some key seniors and coach Chris Beede, had a lot of youth on its roster that should be returning.

Two teams that didn't make the playoffs, Plymouth and Milford, should bounce back in 2020 and be in the mix for a postseason spot.

• Our-way-too-early prediction for next year's playoff teams: Campbell, Hopkinton, Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough, Laconia, Milford, Monadnock, Pelham, Plymouth, Trinity.

Only 40 weeks until the start of the 2020 boys lacrosse season.