Anthony Raio Named USA Lacrosse High School Boys' Northeast Player of the Year

Anthony Raio made history this season — for himself and his team — en route to being named USA Lacrosse High School Boys’ Northeast Player of the Year.

The senior midfielder became Long Island’s all-time leader in goals with 283, including 99 to go along with 77 assists this season. And in doing so, the North Carolina commit helped lead Half Hollow Hills (N.Y.) to an undefeated season, a first-ever New York State championship and the No. 1 ranking in the USA Lacrosse Public High School Boys’ Top 25.

Raio set the tone with four first-half goals en route to six goals and two assists in a 15-10 win over West Genesee (N.Y.) to win the Class A title.

But Raio, who is on the U.S. Men's U20 Training Team, was more than just a sniper.

“Anthony was a do-everything type of player. Whatever we asked him to do, he did what was best for the team,” said Hills coach Connor Hagans, whose team finished the season ranked 14th nationally in the combined public-private USA Lacrosse National Top 25 and sixth in the Northeast Top 10 (annotated below). “A great teammate who was unselfish and made others better by his contagious work ethic. A phenomenal athlete, player, and person who will go down as one of the greatest players to come through Half Hollow Hills.”

Raio, a two-time USA Lacrosse All-American, was also named the recipient of the Lt. Ray Enners Award as the top player in Suffolk County, following in the footsteps of Joey Spallina, Chris Gray and Kevin Cassese, among others. He's also on the all-region team (listed below) for the Northeast.

Players of the year, all-region teams and rankings are compiled by USA Lacrosse Magazine writers with input from coaches around the country.

This content is produced independently of the official USA Lacrosse High School Awards program that includes All-American and All-Academic honorees.

Our Northeast rankings cover Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

All-NORTHEAST Team

A Lucas Garcia Brunswick (Conn.)
A Miguel Iglesias Somers (N.Y.)
A Oliver Nappi Choate (Conn.) 
M Gary Merrill St. Anthony's (N.Y.)
M Anthony Raio Half Hollow Hills (N.Y.)
M Parker Reynolds Salisbury (Conn.)
FO Quinn Ball Chaminade (N.Y.)
SSDM Jayden Kittelberger Salisbury (Conn.)
SSDM Owen Wuchte Garden City (N.Y.)
LSM Blake Cascadden Garden City (N.Y.)
D Chris Iuliano Rye (N.Y.)
D Mark McNamara Darien (Conn.)
D Tucker Spiess Brunswick (Conn.) 
G Josh Marcus Staples (Conn.)

NORTHEAST TOP 10
(FINAL)

1. Loomis Chaffee (Conn.), 16-1

Rowyn Nurry (Cornell) and Liam O’Keefe (Harvard), who were both named to the New Balance All-American game, and David Disque (Johns Hopkins) played starring roles in a second-straight Founders League championship. Milki Conway-Reppert (Dartmouth), Saki Nicholas (Lafayette), Michael Brennan (Harvard), and Jayden Rodriguez (Penn) will be leaders next year.

2. St. Anthony’s (N.Y.), 13-4

All-American midfielder and two-sport star Gary Merrill and Parker McDonald are off to North Carolina, but the Friars reload next year with a big 2026 class highlighted by Charlie Cacciabaudo (North Carolina), Danny Rooney (Maryland), Ethan Bramoff (Virginia), and Jake Johnston (Johns Hopkins).

3. Chaminade (N.Y.), 14-2

It’s the end of an era at Chaminade with legendary head coach Jack Moran retiring after 45 seasons and 629 career wins. While Connor Kuttin (Johns Hopkins), Gavin Lynch (Notre Dame), and Quinn Ball (Penn) have graduated, new head coach Greg Kay inherits a program loaded with talent, led by John Balsamo (Virginia), James Gillis (Duke), and Kieran Walsh (Notre Dame).

4. Salisbury (Conn.), 13-4

Dash Lamitie (Johns Hopkins) was a monster in the cage, Jayden Kittelberger (Syracuse) and Parker Reynolds (Princeton) were solid in the midfield, and Cam Kelley (Notre Dame) was a problem on attack. After reaching the Prep Nationals final, James Whitehouse (Virginia) and Tyler Ramirez (Colgate) will hope to take the next step next spring.

5. Brunswick (Conn.), 14-3

Aidan Diaz-Matos (Notre Dame) and Tucker Spiess (Princeton) were both named All-Americans, capping a stellar high school career. Overall, though, Brunswick was a young team, and fellow All-American Lucas Garcia (Virginia) and John Buttafuoco (Notre Dame) will lead the way for the perennial powerhouse next spring.

6. Half Hollow Hills (N.Y.), 23-0

The best public school in the land had a storybook undefeated season capped by a first-ever New York State Class A crown. All-American Anthony Raio (North Carolina) and James Bruno (Dickinson) and their 205 combined goals, as well as Nico Ghicas’ dominance at the faceoff X, will be hard to replace.

7. Choate (Conn.), 11-5

A one-goal loss in the Founders League championship game was the end of the line for standouts Oliver Nappi (Yale) and George Hawley (Dartmouth), but it’s the impetus for returning standouts Mac Privateer, Will Lawrence, and Brad Mallory, a trio of special players in the Class of 2027.

8. Garden City (N.Y.), 21-2

The Cascadden brothers — faceoff specialist Luke (Navy) and LSM Blake (Cornell) — played a starring role in helping Garden City win a 10th New York State championship. But leading scorer Charlie Koester (Lehigh) and his 99 points (66 goals, 33 assists) and stud 2027 Anthony Asaro will ensure the Trojans aren’t going away anytime soon.

9. Staples (Conn.), 17-5

Adam Udell (Michigan) and Josh Marcus (North Carolina) helped guide Staples to a third state championship in the last four years before moving on to the next level. Standout SSDM Max Hill and left-handed midfielder Charlie Clark will try to keep the Wreckers on top of the CIAC mountain.

10. Belmont Hill (Mass.), 15-3

Lindan Verville (Virginia) capped his high school career in arguably the best way possible - by scoring the overtime winner as Belmont Hill made it back-to-back ISL titles. Preston Evans (Brown) and Eli Friedman (Cornell) also go out as champions, passing the torch to Louie Marobella, Will Butler, and Topher Batchelder to lead the charge next year.