Cassese played collegiate lacrosse at Duke University, where he helped lead the Blue Devils to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
He replaced Joe Alberici who had accepted the head coaching position with the United States Military Academy seventeen days prior.
[5][6] He was named interim head coach on June 5, 2006,[7] two months after Pressler resigned amidst a criminal case involving the program.
[10] Cassese was appointed as head coach at Lehigh University on July 5, 2007,[11] succeeding Chris Wakely who had relinquished his duties a month earlier because of multiple sclerosis.
The Mountain Hawks were also the only team to qualify for twelve consecutive Patriot League Tournaments during the last thirteen years of Cassese's tenure at Lehigh.