Last run for O’Brien
Boston Latin star hits 400-goal mark
Hanging on the wall of Reagan O’Brien’s room is a newspaper frame. On it lies a vague, yet simple statement, which reads: ‘It all started with a girl who hated to lose.’
lacrosse notebook
The phrase is one which drives the Boston Latin senior every single day. For years, the Charlestown native has wreaked havoc on opposing teams throughout Eastern Massachusetts. Now, the All-American and four-time Dual County League All-Star is looking to leave one final stamp on the program she helped build, before continuing her lacrosse career at Johns Hopkins University next year.
“She’s the top high school kid I’ve coached,” said Boston Latin coach Tegan Avellino. “For sure. She’s been the top player in our league for a few years.”
O’Brien first fell in love with lacrosse after seeing the joy it brought her older sister Quinlan when the two were younger. It didn’t take too long for the siblings to develop chemistry on the field.
“When I first started, I just had so many role models to look up to,” O’Brien said. “My older sister played, and my older cousins played, and I just saw how much they loved the sport of lacrosse. I decided to choose lacrosse over soccer in 7th grade. I think that’s when I really solidified my love for lacrosse in general. I think I’ve just seen so many great people grow up with the sport… seen how many lives it’s changed. So, I just found out that I loved it, and that it was going to be the rest of my life.”
A true midfielder at heart, O’Brien has had countless highlight-reel performances during her tenure, including a 12-goal outing in the season-opener on April 5 in a 20-6 rout of Westford Academy.
“I just love all aspects of the game that are competitive,” said O’Brien. “I think that I can always strive to be a better version of myself. I don’t think about the goals when I’m scoring, I just think about the team winning.”
From the moment she arrived at Boston Latin in 2017, Avellino realized that O’Brien wasn’t your typical athlete. She had a killer instinct for finding the cage, and was very aggressive in her pursuit of ground balls. Immediately, O’Brien found herself on the Wolfpack varsity roster.
“Every game, I’m in awe when she’s running through the midfield on defense,” Avellino said. “She’s just after the ball, and nine times out of 10, she’s going to get it.”
O’Brien shattered her latest barrier during a game back on April 16 against Winchester, when she sniped the 400th goal of her career. Some may opt to pause the game for a brief celebration.
For O’Brien, the esteemed accomplishment was simply business as usual.
“In that moment when she scored her sixth goal (of the game), her 400th goal, she ran back to the center draw to take the next one,” chuckled Avellino. “That was it. But the team held up a banner on the sidelines, she glanced over, then went right back to work. We were able to celebrate with her at the end of the game, which was good.”
As mentioned, O’Brien will follow in her older sister’s footsteps, when she heads to Baltimore next fall to start her collegiate career at Johns Hopkins. After going over her wide array of potential options, Reagan was drawn to the university for much more than just a family connection. The opportunity to share the field with Quinlan once again was simply an added bonus.
“I just wanted to make sure the college was the right fit for me personally,” said O’Brien. “I just didn’t want to follow her wherever she went. But once I met the coaches, met the team, saw the culture, saw everything on the campus, it was a great mix of academics and athletics for me. It had the perks of my sister being there, so I finally felt at home. I feel like everyone tells you that you’ll feel like home when you finally get there. That’s what I felt.”