All About the Team

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By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications

Junior defenseman Matt Rimol isn't looking for individual glory. All he cares about is winning.

While teammates around him get the attention because of the statistics they rack up, Rimol very quietly – and effectively – does his job.

He wouldn't want it any other way.

"I don't care a single bit about statistics," said Rimol. "I've always said that to Coach Cassese in our meetings. I'll do whatever is best for the team… all I care about is a Lehigh win."

Rimol has helped lead the Mountain Hawks to plenty of wins in 2018 and Lehigh's best season since the 2014 campaign. One of the biggest reasons for the increased success has been the defense, which he helps anchor.
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Rimol was very close to not even playing Division I college lacrosse. If it wasn't for Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese knocking on his door in the recruiting process, the Londonderry, New Hampshire native may have totally slipped under the radar.

"If a couple things went differently, there's a good chance I'd be playing Division III lacrosse somewhere," said Rimol. "I didn't get recruited much and Lehigh was the first school to come along. I visited Lehigh twice, Coach Cassese offered and it was a pretty quick decision for me.

"I'm just really lucky to be here and have this opportunity."

Rimol is the exact type player who Cassese targets - a talented, but overlooked player. Because of being overlooked (for whatever reason), that player has something to prove.

"The first time I saw Matt play was at a club lacrosse tournament in central Pennsylvania during the summer leading into his junior year," said Cassese. "He was playing for the New Hampshire Tomahawks club team, coached by Lehigh Lacrosse Hall of Famer Chris Cameron. Chris always has tough, gritty, under-the-radar players on his team and Matt Rimol was exactly that.

"The first game I saw Matt play was against one of the best club teams in the country," Cassese continued. "Matt played with attitude and with a chip on his shoulder throughout that game. He hustled, he scrapped and he was the most physical player on the field. I distinctly remember him getting two big hits on two different players in the same defensive set and causing a turnover in the process. I also remember seeing how excited the other players on his team got after he made those plays. It was obvious that Matt was a positive source of energy for his team.

"After watching that game and several others on that day, it became very clear to me that I needed to find a way to get Matt Rimol on my team."

Rimol entered Lehigh in the fall of 2015 and became acclimated to the college game fairly quickly.

"I did okay throughout freshman year and was hovering between the scout team and a starting spot," he said. "One week, coach really got on me and said I could really make it onto the brown (starting) team. You just need to come in, watch film and commit to the extra work. That gave me the confidence to make the commitment."

When Jason Kozel was injured against Lafayette, Rimol stepped in and hasn't left the starting lineup since.

"The injury took him out of the lineup and moved me up a spot," he said. "I got my shot and tried to make the most of it."

Rimol is certainly making the most of his opportunity, not because of any individual statistics, but what he means to the team's success. While he "only" has ten groundballs and two caused turnovers this season, he plays an integral role on the defense's success.

The "glue" on the defensive end, Rimol has developed a chemistry with his fellow junior defensemen, Craig Chick and Eddie Bouhall. The defense has taken its game to another level in 2018, standing as high as No. 6 nationally in scoring defense.

"I see my role as balancing out Craig and Eddie," said Rimol. "They're great players; they're always getting after guys and causing a lot of turnovers. I try to be that constant in the middle. Our defense works best when we all play to our strengths."

"I try to do what I'm good at to the best of my ability, but nothing more."

An important part of Rimol's game is his physicality.
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"Playing football helped me bring that physicality to lacrosse," he said. "I was always a bigger, more physical guy in lacrosse from playing football growing up."

If Lehigh didn't come calling, Rimol may have even played college football somewhere. But when he had the opportunity to accept Cassese's offer to play lacrosse at Lehigh, Rimol had no doubt it was the right choice for the present, and future.

"I believe I've grown a lot at Lehigh, through the culmination of experiences from being a student-athlete," he said. "Through everything I've gone through in lacrosse, working in conjunction with being a student here, everything together is such a unique experience. Being a student-athlete, your daily life is so much different from a regular student. Lehigh being a great school brings it even a step further."

Amidst all his academic and athletic commitments, Rimol has kept good long-term perspective.

"I came here and was looking to enter the business school," he said. "I didn't really know what exactly I was going to do, but sophomore year, I took finance and accounting and was really good at both, so I went in that direction."

Rimol has grown within his finance major, even securing an internship back home last summer.

"I interned at a wealth management branch at Morgan Stanley in New Hampshire," he said. "The internship really helped me. Being in wealth management, I got a taste for a lot of areas of finance. I figured out that I want to get into more of the technical side of things, and it helped me land an internship for this coming summer working in Princeton, New Jersey for a company that does business valuations."

Rimol has proven to be a selfless team player within the Lehigh Lacrosse program, an attribute that should translate over into the organization he works for post-graduation.

"Matt is an outstanding athlete and a terrific lacrosse player, but an even better man," said Cassese. "He will be a tremendous asset to any team or organization that is lucky enough to land him. His selflessness and team-first mentality bleeds through in everything he does, and he is as dependable a young man as I've ever been around."

For now, Rimol is focused on his remaining 13 months at Lehigh. On the field, all he's focused on is helping the Mountain Hawks reach their goal of a Patriot League Championship.

"On the defense, we definitely focus on doing our jobs," said Rimol. "We're also a tight-knit group and no one's competing with each other. We all just want to win and hold the opponent to the fewest number of goals possible."

Rimol isn't focused on numbers next to his name on the stat sheet, but rather, the numbers next to the word Lehigh.

He wouldn't want it any other way.

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Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #1 Army on May 1, 2026 , Loss , 6, to, 13

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #3 Boston University on April 28, 2026 , Win , 16, to, 15

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at Lafayette College on April 24, 2026 , Win , 14, to, 12

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse versus Navy on April 18, 2026 , Win , 19, to, 7

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at Colgate University on April 10, 2026 , Loss , 7, to, 9

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #4/5 Princeton University on March 31, 2026 , Loss , 8, to, 15

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #18/19 Army on March 28, 2026 , Loss , 11, to, 14

Lehigh University Athletics

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Eddie Bouhall

Craig Chick

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Matt Rimol

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