Annual alumni game proved to be a success
10/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
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BETHLEHEM, Pa – Lehigh men’s lacrosse held its annual community night, followed by the traditional alumni game on October 3rd.
The night began at 7 p.m. at Rauch Field House, where local youth lacrosse players could come and learn from the Mountain Hawks players and coaches. The 30 children who attended the free clinic, then went over to watch the ‘08-‘09 team scrimmage the former student-athletes, some of which head coach Kevin Cassese remembers playing against during his time at Duke University.
“There were some very good ex-players there,” Cassese said. “Not only from last year, but years past – guys that I even remember playing against my senior year. To see them running around was phenomenal.”
Cassese explained how this was a great opportunity for his players to get in a game-like situation and to line up against someone other than their own teammates.
“For us, we treated it as practice and a tune up for our tournament which is coming up this weekend,” said Cassese.
The game began at 8:30p.m. with an exciting, but purposeful atmosphere. As the alumni players took the field with the former head coach Chris Wakely in command, there was certainly a loose, exhilarating feel in the air. In addition, for Cassese and his staff, it was another chance to make notes of which lineups work well moving into the fall tournament this weekend.
“We have a lot of young guys playing right now, so we looked kind of raw, but I was pleased overall with where we are after four weeks of practice,” said Cassese. “By that point, that was our 16th practice, so you don’t expect to be polished, but what I did expect was our guys to play hard and to hustle and leave it all out there, and we got that.”
Cassese realizes the importance the alumni bring to the current team, not only for scrimmages, but as examples and reminders of what Lehigh men’s lacrosse is about.
“The main goal for us, aside from getting in a scrimmage in, is to welcome the alumni back and to honor the legacy that they left,” said Cassese. “That’s important so our guys can see how they act and how they play and the culture that they built. To have them on the field next to our guys is extremely valuable.”
Looking towards the weekend, where Lehigh will be competing in the Second Annual Nick Colleluori Classic Tournament, Cassese’s focus is on his team and how it will work to improve.
“For us, the coaching staff, we are looking at this weekend to see that our level of play should not change just because we go from playing a Division III school, to a Division I school, and that’s our goal,” said Cassese. “I think if you look at the overall day, it is something we are very excited to be apart of.”
By: Courtney Molinaro ‘09
