THE LHS boys’ lacrosse team returns plenty of talented players from last year’s team, which made a run to the state quarterfinals. The Pioneers will be led by senior captains Jack Calichman, Drew Damiani, Steve Dreher and James Sharkey. (File Photo)
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
LYNNFIELD — Pat Lamusta is back for his third season as the head coach of the Lynnfield High boys’ lacrosse team. Last spring, the Pioneers reached the Round of 8 game in the MIAA Division 4 state tournament before losing to eventual state champions, Wahconah, to end up at 16-5 overall.
In the Cape Ann League they finished in second place, tied with Pentucket, in the CAL Kinney Division going 9-3 in league play. Newburyport won the division.
Four seniors from that team graduated.
When practice opened on March 20, the team returned nine veterans with four of them being the senior captains. Those four captains are Jack Calichman (midfielder), Drew Damiani (attacker), James Sharkey (defenseman) and Steve Dreher (defenseman).
Calichman was also a Cape Ann League First-Team All-Star last season as he broke the school record for points with 124 and in assists with 87.
Damiani, who was also an All-Star last spring, led the team in goals with 70 as he had 93 total points with his 23 assists. He also had 84 ground balls and 17 takeaways.
The other returning senior is face-off specialist, Bryce Kay.
The four other returners back are all sophomores. Ben Pimentel is a goalie while Kelan Cardinal is a midfielder. Will Norton plays attack while A.J. Chiaradonna is a long-stick-midfielder.
Chiaradonna was a CAL First-Team All-Star last year as he led the team in ground balls with 87. He had 25 takeaways to go with three goals and one assist.
Opening week of practice went well according to Lamusta.
“The numbers are high and I love to see the enthusiasm they have showed,” he stated.
Lynnfield will play 18 regular-season games this spring with six of them being non-league. Lamusta feels that Newburyport is still the team to beat in the CAL Kinney while Triton will also be a contender.
“Our two goals are to win the division and qualify for the playoffs,” said Lamusta. “We have a lot of parity in the Kinney this season.”
The Pioneers scrimmaged Tyngsboro at home on Tuesday and will go to Burlington for its second scrimmage today (March 29).
Lynnfield will open the 2023 campaign on March 31 as they host Masconomet at 4 p.m. They will then play another non-league game on April 3 as they visit Gloucester with that game also starting at 4 p.m.
The league opener is on Apr. 5 as they welcome North Reading at 4:30 p.m.
