Cassese qualifies for U.S. national training team
6/10/2009 3:45:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese is one of 40 players who have qualified for the 2010 U.S. men’s national training team following a three-day tryout at Bryant University this week. Cassese was notified on Wednesday afternoon that he had been selected to compete in three training weekends during the fall of 2009. Following those three weekends, the roster will be cut to the FIL-mandated size of 23 players for the 2010 FIL World Championship in Manchester, England.
“Right now, I’m exhausted,” Cassese said on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m fired up though; this was my goal to advance to the next phase of tryouts and I’ve put myself in position to make the team and represent the United States. It’s also a chance to play for Coach Pressler one more time.” Coach Pressler is United States National Team head coach Mike Pressler, who Cassese played and coached under at Duke University.
There were 84 invitees at this week’s tryouts who competed in two sessions of two games apiece Monday and Tuesday prior to a final session Wednesday morning. “The level of competition was very high,” Cassese commented. “I think I had two good sessions at first and that helped me a lot before I tweaked my hamstring later on.” He continued, “Overall I enjoyed the format of the tryout, I thought the coaches and selection committee were very upfront about what they were looking for and it was a great experience. I don’t think there was a single guy here who did not belong.”
Cassese says his experience playing in Major League Lacrosse, as well as coaching lacrosse, prepared him for the National Team tryouts. “Playing in Major League Lacrosse with a large number of guys who were at the tryouts gets you familiar with their style of play; you learn some of the tendencies of certain players. Also, the speed of MLL is similar to what we saw at the tryouts so that was helpful.”
He continued, “Playing in the international game (of lacrosse) you must be smart and so I think my experience as a coach, having analyzed and broken down every single aspect of the game has made me smarter and gave me a leg-up on the competition.”
Looking ahead Cassese said he will use the next few days to rest his body and recover from the tryouts while also preparing for an upcoming game with the Boston Cannons of MLL on Saturday evening versus the Chicago Machine. “Right now I’m going to allow my body to heal. I think we’re all nicked up following three grueling days in Rhode Island, so my intent is to play on Saturday and then finish out the season with the Boston Cannons. Following that, I’ll take a week off and then I’ll get right back into the training and prepare for the next phase of tryouts.”
During his time in Rhode Island, Coach Cassese kept a blog for Lehighsports.com. Click on the link above to check out Coach’s blog.
