Reilly O'Connor

Reilly O'Connor
The Playmaker Who Has Made Everyone Around Him Better

Position: Forward
Shoots: Left
Hometown: Whitby, Ontario
MSL Team: Brooklin Lacrosse Club
NLL Team: Ottawa Black Bears

Seeing the Play Before It Happens

Some players build careers by putting the ball in the net.

Reilly O'Connor has spent much of his career making sure somebody else can.
For more than a decade, O'Connor has established himself as one of the game's most intelligent and unselfish offensive players. From championship teams with the Whitby Warriors to Georgetown University, Major Series Lacrosse and a long National Lacrosse League career, his greatest strength has remained remarkably consistent.

Vision.

O'Connor sees the floor exceptionally well. He understands spacing, recognizes where defenders are going and often seems to know where the next opening will appear before it actually develops.

It's a skill that can't always be measured by goals.

But teammates certainly appreciate it.

Early Years

Growing up in the Whitby area, O'Connor was surrounded by one of Ontario's strongest lacrosse cultures.

He attended The Hill Academy, continuing his development in both the box and field games before eventually earning the opportunity to play NCAA Division I lacrosse.

But it was with the Whitby Warriors where O'Connor really began establishing his reputation.

And what followed was one of the most productive junior careers of his era.

Whitby Warriors

O'Connor became the focal point of a powerhouse Whitby offense.

His junior career included three consecutive 100-point seasons, but his ability to distribute the ball was what truly separated him.

During the 2013 season, O'Connor accumulated 101 points, including an incredible 78 assists, leading Ontario Junior A in helpers.

More importantly, Whitby was winning.

O'Connor helped the Warriors capture the Minto Cup in both 2011 and 2013, twice reaching the pinnacle of Canadian junior lacrosse.

Those championship experiences provided an early glimpse of something that would follow O'Connor throughout his career.
He didn't simply produce points.
He helped winning teams.

Georgetown University

O'Connor continued his field lacrosse career at Georgetown University, where he developed into one of the Hoyas' offensive leaders.

His breakout came in 2013.

O'Connor scored 26 goals and added 30 assists for 56 points, earning Second Team All-BIG EAST honours while being named Georgetown's Most Outstanding Offensive Player.
His 56 points were, at the time, the ninth-highest single-season total in program history.

One game particularly demonstrated what O'Connor could do when everything was clicking.
Against Providence, he exploded for four goals and six assists for 10 points, leading Georgetown to a 16-goal performance.
By his senior season, O'Connor had been selected as a team captain.

He completed his Georgetown career with 66 goals and 67 assists for 133 points in 57 games.
Once again, the numbers showed almost perfect balance.

He could score.

But creating for others remained just as important.

Representing Canada

O'Connor's development also earned him the opportunity to represent his country.

In 2012, he suited up for Team Canada at the FIL Under-19 World Lacrosse Championship in Finland, helping Canada capture the silver medal.

It added international experience to a résumé that was already beginning to include success in junior box lacrosse and the NCAA game.

National Lacrosse League

The Calgary Roughnecks selected O'Connor seventh overall in the 2015 NLL Entry Draft.
He immediately stepped into the professional game, recording 36 points as a rookie.
But his career was only beginning.

O'Connor's NLL journey has taken him through Calgary, the New England Black Wolves, Albany, the New York Riptide and eventually the Ottawa Black Bears.

And through all those changes, one thing has remained remarkably consistent.

Production.

By the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, O'Connor had played 162 regular-season NLL games, accumulating:

167 goals
376 assists
543 points

That assist total tells you almost everything you need to know about the kind of player he has been.

During the 2018-19 season with New England, O'Connor produced a career-best 76 points, including 49 assists.

With New York in 2023-24, he registered another 72 points, with 54 coming as assists.

And in 2025-26 with Ottawa, at age 32, O'Connor delivered one of the strongest seasons of his career:

22 goals
48 assists
70 points

More than a decade after entering the league, he remains an important offensive contributor.

Major Series Lacrosse

O'Connor made his Major Series Lacrosse debut with Brooklin in 2015, scoring eight goals and adding 15 assists for 23 points in 12 games.

It didn't take long for him to become much more than a promising young player.

By 2017, O'Connor had become the Jim Murphy Award winner as Major Series Lacrosse's Most Valuable Player.

He was also Brooklin's leading scorer that season.

Years later, he remains part of the organization.
And during the 2026 season, O'Connor demonstrated that he can still take over an MSL game.

Against Oakville in July, Brooklin fell behind early.
O'Connor responded by completing a natural hat trick in the first period, keeping his team within striking distance.

Brooklin eventually took control, and O'Connor added a fourth goal on the power play as the BLC rolled to a 14-8 victory.

Four goals.

First Star.

But even that performance only tells part of the story.

On other nights, O'Connor is just as likely to be the player making the pass that creates the goal.

That's been his identity for most of his career.

From Player to Coach

O'Connor's influence on the game has also moved behind the bench.

He has served as head coach of the Toronto Beaches in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League, giving the next generation of players an opportunity to learn from someone who has experienced virtually every level of the game.

There's something fitting about that.

For years, O'Connor has been praised for his lacrosse IQ and ability to see plays developing.

Those same qualities that make someone an outstanding playmaker can also make them an outstanding teacher.

The player who has spent his career making teammates better is now helping young players become better as well.

Leadership

Perhaps the greatest compliment paid to O'Connor came from Ottawa Black Bears general manager Rich Lisk.

When Ottawa re-signed O'Connor, Lisk pointed not simply to his production, but to his leadership, lacrosse IQ and relentless motor, describing him as the type of player teams need to win championships.

O'Connor was also given a leadership letter with Ottawa.

That shouldn't be surprising.

He captained Georgetown.

He's coached junior lacrosse.

And after more than a decade in professional and senior lacrosse, he has become the kind of veteran younger players can lean on.

Statistics tell you how productive a player has been.

Leadership tells you how much he has meant to the people around him.

By the Numbers

Hometown: Whitby, Ontario
Position: Forward
Shoots: Left
School: The Hill Academy
Junior: Whitby Warriors
Minto Cups: 2011, 2013
College: Georgetown University
Georgetown Career: 133 points in 57 games
International: Team Canada — 2012 U19 World Championship Silver Medal
NLL Draft: 7th Overall, 2015 — Calgary Roughnecks
NLL Teams: Calgary / New England / Albany / New York / Ottawa
NLL Career through 2025-26: 543 points in 162 games
MSL Team: Brooklin Lacrosse Club
2017: Jim Murphy Award — MSL Most Valuable Player
Coaching: Toronto Beaches — OJLL Head Coach


Gary Groob's Take

There are certain players where you have to look beyond the goals to really appreciate what they bring to a lacrosse team.

Reilly O'Connor is one of them.

I've always enjoyed watching players who think the game, and Reilly does that exceptionally well.

When the ball is in his stick, he doesn't appear to be looking only at what's happening in front of him. He's reading the entire floor. He's watching where the defense is moving, where his teammates are going and where that little opening is about to appear.

And then the ball arrives.

Sometimes I think the best compliment you can give a playmaker is that other players enjoy playing with him.

Reilly makes people better.

His career numbers certainly back that up. More than twice as many NLL assists as goals don't happen by accident. They come from understanding that creating a goal can be every bit as important as scoring one yourself.

But there's another part of Reilly's career that I really respect.

Longevity.

He's been doing this for a long time.
Two Minto Cups with Whitby. Captain at Georgetown. First-round NLL selection. MSL Most Valuable Player. More than 500 NLL points. 

And now, well into his thirties, he puts up 70 points in an NLL season and can still walk into an MSL game and score four goals when Brooklin needs them.

That's impressive.

And now he's passing that knowledge along as a coach.

For me, that's where Reilly O'Connor's story comes full circle.

He began as a young player learning how to see the game differently.

He became a veteran who used that vision to make everyone around him better.

And now he's teaching the next generation how to see the game too.

That's a pretty good lacrosse legacy.

And it's exactly why Reilly O'Connor belongs among the Stars of MSL.

— Gary Groob