Cassese named to U.S. National Lacrosse Team
11/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – During the summer of 2010 Smith Family Head Lacrosse Coach Kevin Cassese will pack his bags and head to Manchester, England as a member of the 2010 United States Men’s National Lacrosse Team. Cassese was notified he made the 23-man squad around lunchtime on Monday. “I am absolutely humbled by this selection to the US National Team,” Cassese explained. “It is a tremendous honor to represent the United States of America on the lacrosse field and I look forward to doing everything possible to help bring back the gold medal from Manchester, England this coming summer.”
Cassese began this journey in June when he competed at the first portion of the national team tryouts. Of the 84 invitees at the tryouts in June, Cassese was of one 200 players that submitted applications to be considered for Team USA. He was one of 12 tryout selections among the 84 that was a member of the 2006 U.S. team that finished as runner-up to Canada at the World Championships. Cassese was also a member of the 2002 U.S. team that won the world title in Australia.
The Mountain Hawks leader headed to West Point, New York in late September, to Annapolis, Maryland in mid-October and to Stony Brook University over Halloween weekend in a trio of tryout weekends. Cassese and 39 other players who qualified for the national training team were put through a grueling and strenuous process to narrow the field down to the final 23-man squad.
“I want to congratulate the entire pool of players on their efforts, attitude and stellar play over three tremendous weekends this fall,” said Team USA head coach Mike Pressler. “Without question, this was the best way to go in this thorough and, at times, exhausting process. We feel these 23 men give us the best chance to win the gold at the 2010 world championship in Manchester.”
“What a thrill it will be to have the opportunity to play for Coach Pressler one last time and on the biggest stage the game of lacrosse has to offer,” Cassese said referring to the man he played for while an undergrad at Duke University. “I have no doubt Coach Pressler will have this group of 23 ready to compete in the summer of 2010. We all know that we have our work cut out for us with the Canadians coming in looking to defend their title and the rest of the participating nations getting better and better by the year. We will need to bring our A game over to Manchester in July.”
The 2010 world championship will be the first men’s championship conducted by the newly formed FIL, which is a result of the merger of the International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Associations and the International Lacrosse Federation.
Cassese and his teammates will head to England in a few months as the former Duke All-American looks to win his second gold medal at the world championships. “This being my third national team tryout experience, I can honestly say this was by far the highest level of play I have ever seen in my career. I truly believe the coaching staff could have selected a team consisting of any combination of the 41 participants and found themselves with a terrific team. Every player was great and every player brought something different to the table. But, regardless, each and every player deserved to be a part of this experience."
