Lacrosse – SSN Player of the Year: Dylan Jinks

2014 Shore Sports Network Lacrosse Player of the Year

Dylan Jinks, Jr., Attack, Southern

Photo by Cliff Lavelle.

His shot: lethal. His numbers: absurd.

It was common knowledge in the Shore Conference that Southern Regional junior attackman Dylan Jinks was one of the top offensive players in the Shore and in New Jersey after two tremendous varsity seasons, but what he accomplished in 2014 was simply unbelievable.

Jinks scored a Shore Conference single-season record and state-leading 93 goals while adding a team-high 43 assists for 136 points, which placed him fourth in the state in total scoring. He scored five goals or more in a game seven times, and had nine more where he scored four goals. He also finished with three games of 10 points or better.

In the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV semifinals, Old Bridge went as far as to assign two players to Jinks, limiting him to one assist in the only game all season in which he didn’t score a goal. Jinks’ response in the very next game was a brilliant five-goal, four-assist performance that included the game-winning goal in overtime in an 11-10 win over Lenape for the South Jersey Group IV title.

“He’s a special player,” said Southern head coach John Pampalone after the win over Lenape. “He has those games where he just isn’t going to be denied.”

Even more remarkable is that Jinks’ gaudy numbers came on a team that featured another 100-point scorer in Brendan Mullen and a 91-point season from Shawn McManus.

His state line for this season eclipses the career totals of plenty of excellent graduating seniors around the state. Jinks, a University of Hartford commit, will enter his senior season with 198 career goals and 304 points. He’s already helped Southern capture back-to-back Class A South division titles and consecutive state sectional titles, and next year he is looking to lead Southern to its first group title.

“We’re going to come out next year and go as hard as we can,” Jinks said. “Hopefully we’ll make it back here and it’ll be a different ending.”