June 9, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Estes brings passion to Pinkerton

by Roger Brown/

Brian Estes was the only non-senior from New Hampshire to be named an All-American last year.

Brian Estes was the only non-senior from New Hampshire to be named an All-American last year.

When he was in fourth grade, Brian Estes was rummaging through a friend’s garage when he spied something that caught his eye. It was an object he had never seen before: a lacrosse stick.

It wasn’t long before Estes knew how to catch and throw, and a fascination with lacrosse was born.

“It was a toy stick,” Estes recalled. “I still have it today.  Right away I told my dad I wanted to sign up to play [lacrosse]. I’ve been in love with it ever since then.

“In the summer I’ll spend about five hours a day shooting with my friends. It’s like a lacrosse clinic in my backyard. I knew pretty early that lacrosse was going to be my sport.”

Estes, a senior at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, N.H., has been playing lacrosse since the day he found that toy stick. Last year he was one of eight New Hampshire high school players to be named an All-American by US Lacrosse. He was the only non-senior on that list.

Although he tried other sports, Estes now plays lacrosse year-round. He plays both midfield and attack for Pinkerton. In the summer and fall he suits up for the New Hampshire Tomahawks, an elite team that plays top competition throughout the country.

“I’d say it’s his passion for the game — his love of the sport,” Pinkerton coach Brian O’Reilly said when asked what separates Estes from most high school lacrosse players. “He was one of those lacrosse rats.”

Chris Cameron, who coaches the Tomahawks and also is the varsity lacrosse coach at Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua — the school that beat Pinkerton in the 2008 Division 1 championship game — called Estes a complete lacrosse player.

“I remember seeing him for the first time as a sophomore when we played against them during the year,” Cameron said. “You could see that he was good and that he had ability, but you could also see that he’s like a gym rat in basketball who never leaves the gym. I don’t think he ever puts down his stick. Each year you could see him progressing, progressing, progressing."

Estes is unique by Pinkerton standards, and not just because he’s an all-American. O’Reilly, who is in his 28th season as Pinkerton’s head coach, said Estes is one of a handful of players who made Pinkerton’s varsity roster as a freshman. That list includes former Pinkerton standout Steve Boyle, who is now a junior at perennial NCAA Division 1 power Johns Hopkins.

“We have 3,400 kids in our school,” O’Reilly said. “We don’t need to play freshmen. We don’t take freshmen unless they’re exceptional.

“He must have shown me something in practice, but I’d be lying to you if I told you I knew what that was.  I do remember he was an exceptional shooter in close as a freshman. We put him in some games and he showed an ability to score. He was a good crease player.”

Estes began his freshman season on the junior varsity roster but was promoted to the varsity after he scored 11 goals in his first two JV games. He helped Pinkerton beat BG for the Division 1 title that season.

Estes collected 24 points (21 goals) as a sophomore, and finished with 85 points (60 goals) last season. He also played quarterback for the Pinkerton football team during his freshman and sophomore seasons, but lacrosse became his top priority early in his junior year.

“I got through double sessions, and that’s when coach Cameron asked me to play for the Tomahawks,” Estes said. “I took off with [lacrosse] in a different way than I did with other sports. I like the creativity. It’s not like football where you have set plays. You have to improvise and react.”

Estes scored in all but one game last season, but he was at his best in the Division 1 tournament. He scored five goals in a semifinal win over Exeter, and then collected a game-high six goals in a 14-11 loss to Bishop Guertin in the championship game.

He’s among the state’s top scorers again this season, being used primarily as a midfielder.

“Some kids know how to find an area to get open in,” O’Reilly said. “Right from his freshman year he’s known which side to move to, when to make a cut and how to make eye contact. He finishes well. The ball is not on his stick long.”

Estes will play Division 3 lacrosse for Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., next season, but he said his focus right now is bringing a championship to Pinkerton. The Astros have gone two years without a title, which qualifies as a drought for a Pinkerton program that has captured nine of the last 15 Division 1 championships.

It may come down to Pinkerton and Bishop Guertin again this season. Both teams were unbeaten against Division 1 competition until Bishop Guertin posted a 14-6 victory when the teams met during the regular season.

“Championships are all we want here,” Estes said.

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