Men's Lacrosse
- Title:
- Smith Family Head Lacrosse Coach
- Email:
- kac407@lehigh.edu
- Phone:
- 610-758-4917
- Alma Mater:
- Third Season
Kevin Cassese is in his third season as Lehigh’s men’s lacrosse head coach. Last year Cassese led the Mountain Hawks to back-to-back road victories over ranked teams – his first wins over a ranked opponent as a head coach. He also mentored three All-Patriot League honorees, including First-Team selections Dan Honeywell ’08 and Ricky Cornetta ‘09, and eight Academic Honor Roll picks. Under Cassese’s watch Cornetta had a brilliant senior campaign finishing in the top-15 nationally in points and assists per game.
During the summer of 2009 Cassese qualified for the 2010 U.S. men’s national training team. He will attend three training weekends during the fall of 2009 with a chance at securing a spot on the U.S. National Team, which he has been a part of on two previous occasions.
In his first season as the Mountain Hawks leader, Cassese led a young Lehigh squad to more home wins and more overall victories than the season prior to his arrival. The Brown and White also ranked in the top-ten nationally in man-down defense and in the top-25 in scoring defense.
Cassese, who holds the title as the Smith Family Head Lacrosse Coach was named head coach on July 5, 2007. “Kevin Cassese has all the qualities to be an exceptional college head coach,” Lehigh Goodman Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett explained upon Cassese’s hiring. “He inspired everyone during his interview and his references were even more impressive, both in terms of the individuals who encouraged us to consider him, and in terms of the specific things they had to say about him. I believe our athletes will find his enthusiasm and passion for lacrosse, his organization, his preparation, his attention to detail, his personal values and his self-confidence to be truly distinctive qualities."
One of the most decorated student athletes in Duke history, Cassese served as an assistant at his alma mater since 2005, helping lead the Blue Devils to an appearance in the 2007 National Championship game. He also served as Duke’s interim head coach for part of the summer of 2006. Prior to Duke, Cassese spent one season at Stony Brook as an assistant where he directed the nation’s top extra man offense and helped the Seawolves to a 10-6 record in 2004.
A two time captain and three time All-ACC selection while at Duke, Cassese helped lead the Blue Devils to three NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of ACC Championships during his collegiate career. Cassese earned All-America honors on three separate occasions including First-Team accolades in 2002 and 2003. Cassese, who scored 80 goals and handed out 38 assists during his time at Duke, was a two time finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy and garnered ACC Player of the Year honors in 2001. In 2002, Cassese was the recipient of the Lt. Donald MacLaughlin, Jr. Award as the nation’s top midfielder.
Mike Pressler, the current head coach at Bryant University, was Cassese’s head coach at Duke during his playing days and he can’t say enough about his former pupil. “If I had a son and he was half the man that Kevin Cassese is, than I would be a happy father. Kevin is the type of person that people want to be around, they gravitate towards. He is a dynamic recruiter and one of the greatest winners in the history of our sport.”
Pressler continues, “Kevin is responsible for holding the Duke lacrosse program together between the time that I left and Coach Danowski came in. There are very few people that can communicate, lead and coach the way that he can. When I recruited Kevin out of high school, I knew he would be a star as a student athlete and once he played his final collegiate game, I knew he would be a star as a coach.”
An accomplished player on the national level as well, Cassese helped the United States to the gold medal at the 2002 International Lacrosse Federation world championships and he was also a member of the United States team that placed second at the 2006 ILF world championships in London, Ontario. Cassese was the number two overall selection in the Major League Lacrosse draft by the Rochester Rattlers in 2003, where among his professional accomplishments are a pair of MLL Rookie of the Week honors and a spot on the 2005 All-Star team. Cassese, who was traded to the Philadelphia Barrage of MLL during the summer of 2007, helped lead his new team to the 2007 Major League Lacrosse Championship, as well as a spot in Championship Weekend in 2008. Cassese was signed by the Boston Cannons prior to the 2009 MLL season and appeared in 12 games for them during the regular season. He also helped lead them into the 2009 Major League Lacrosse Playoffs.
“There is no doubt in any of our minds here at Duke that Kevin is going to be a tremendous success,” John Danowski the current head coach at Duke commented. “His history as both a player and as a coach points to him being more than ready to take over and lead a program at this time.”
Danowski added, “Words cannot describe the type of experience that Kevin has gotten in his short time as a coach for a person of his age. Through difficult circumstances during the spring of 2006 and also in his time as interim head coach, Kevin gained about ten years of experience and is without a doubt fully prepared for this opportunity.”
A native of Port Jefferson Station, New York and graduate of Comsewogue High School, Cassese earned his bachelors degree in sociology from Duke in 2003, garnering USILA Scholar All-American and ACC Academic Honor Roll honors as well as the ACC’s Weaver-James-Corrigan Honorary Award for outstanding athletic and academic achievement.
Cassese and his wife, the former Katie Granson who attended nearby Freedom High School, were married in Bethlehem in December of 2006.
