BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese will team up with Towson’s Shawn Nadelen as co-head coaches for the South Team at the annual North-South Senior All-Star Game next Friday (May 25) at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. The nation’s top seniors will face off at Harvard Stadium the day before Championship Weekend kicks off at nearby Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.
The Division III game is set for 3 p.m. before the Division I-II game at 5:30. Complete rosters for the games have yet to be announced.
“It’s an incredible honor to be named as a coach of the tradition rich North-South college All-Star game,” said Cassese. “For the senior student-athletes that will participate, it’s a special way to put a bow on some outstanding collegiate careers. Personally, I have great memories as a player in the 2003 game and I know first-hand it’s an experience these young men won’t soon forget.”
This marks Cassese’s second time coaching in the game after serving as assistant for Bryant’s Mike Pressler in 2009. Cassese will coach the offense and Nadelen the defense as the South vies for its second-straight victory. They’ll square off against Army head coach Joe Alberici, who’s leading the North Team.
“It will be fun to once again team up with friend and former teammate, Shawn Nadelen, to coach this team,” said Cassese. “It will also be fun to square off against my former college offensive coach, current Patriot League colleague and longtime friend, Joe Alberici.”
Cassese and Nadelen coached together in October, leading the U.S. National Team at the 2011 Stars and Stripes vs. Duke.
Last season, two Lehigh seniors played in the game as Jonathan Stumpf scored the eventual game-winning goal in the South’s 15-11 win, while Will Scudder won three faceoffs.
USILA North South Game History
The first North-South College All-Star Game was played in 1940 at Municipal Stadium in Baltimore, MD. The North squad coached by Princeton’s Bill Logan won that inaugural event with a 6-5 victory over the South team coached by Maryland’s Jack Faber.
Sixty-six total games have been played with interruptions occurring only in With the exception of 1944 and 1945 the North/South games have been played each year without interruption.
In 1991, the USILA split the event and created two games. The Division I-II game and the Division III game. This two game format was interrupted in 2006 when a special committee of the USILA recommended returning to one game but combining all divisions. The following year, 2007, saw the return to two separate games.
