LYNNFIELD — The spotlight’s on Lynnfield High rising junior lacrosse player Arthur (A.J.) Chiaradonna, who is playing on the national stage at the 2022 Under Armour All-American Lacrosse Games on the boys’ Spotlight division Pursuit team this week in Baltimore, Md.
“I think it’s a real privilege and I’m honored to be here. I’m excited to compete,” said Chiaradonna, who plays long-stick midfield. “I’ve been playing football for Lynnfield since I was about 8 and lacrosse since kindergarten. I’ve been playing sports in general for as long as I can remember. My parents just kind of put me in them and I just never stopped.”
The tournament is broken down into three divisions. Teams engage in pool play over the first three days before heading into a final bracket on Sunday. Chiaradonna’s team lost its first game on Thursday, losing to Ignite, 13-8. On Friday the team dropped to 0-2 with an 11-9 loss to Hovr and a couple of hours later picked up its first win, defeating Charge 9-8 in overtime, to improve to 1-2 placing them in fifth place in the six-team division. The team’s final game in pool play is Saturday against Surge.
In order to advance to Sunday’s semifinals, Pursuit must finish no worse than fourth in its division. Teams failing to make the cut will play in the losers’ bracket.
As a sophomore, Chiaradonna was selected as a Cape Ann League (CAL) First-Team All-Star. He was also named the Pioneers’ Defensive Player of the Year.
The Pioneers posted one of its best records in recent history, finishing 16-4 overall (9-3 in the Cape Ann League). The team advanced to the round of eight in the MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) Division 4 state tournament only to lose to Wahconah Regional, which went on to win the state championship.
Chiaradonna also plays football. The Pioneers finished 4-5 in 2021 (1-5 in the CAL).
Chiaradonna hopes that playing at the Under Armour tournament will expose his talent to potential college coaches and recruiters.
“I think the real goal is to show off my skills and talents to some of the college coaches who are here,” said Chiaradonna. “It also shows the different types of competitions that I can play in as well as different situations and with different types of players.”
Even with college two full years away for Chiaradonna, he says there are already a handful of schools looking at his profile.
“A few schools have reached out but not a lot,” said Chiaradonna. “There aren’t really any schools that I’ve looked into (so right now) I’m not sure where I want to go.”
Maddi Filip can be reached at [email protected].
