Feb. 7, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. — After helping St. Francis to back-to-back 10-win seasons and a school-record in shutouts, David Casper has been introduced as the latest Kentucky men’s soccer assistant coach, it was announced on Tuesday afternoon by UK head coach Johan Cedergren.
Casper comes to Kentucky after three successful seasons as the top assistant coach and goalkeeping coach for Division I Saint Francis University (Loretto, Pa.). During his time at St. Francis, Casper helped guide the club to back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in school history. While working with the keepers, Casper helped set the school record for shutouts in a season (11), ranking third in the NCAA in shutout percentage (0.61), sixth in save percentage (.864) and 11th in goals-against average (0.65).
“I’ve known for a while that David has a great reputation and would be a tremendous assistant coach,” Cedergren said. “David is a former national champion, who brings great playing experience to the coaching staff. While at St. Francis, he handled all facets of a college program and he will hit the ground running. His knowledge of the game, as well as his ability to connect with our student-athletes, will be a great asset for our program.”
Casper arrived at St. Francis in 2009, helping the club post a win over the seventh-ranked team in the nation. After a year of working with the team, St. Francis had a breakout season in 2010, winning as school-record 11 games and six in conference play. The team finished with a No. 2 final NSCAA North Atlantic Region ranking and the highest RPI in school annals.
“I am very blessed and excited to be joining the University of Kentucky men’s soccer coaching staff,” Casper said. “I want to thank Coach Cedergren and Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart for this great opportunity. I also want to thank my brother Michael for giving me the opportunity at Saint Francis and helping prepare me for my role here at Kentucky.”
While at St. Francis, Casper worked directly with the goalkeepers, in addition to assisting in all aspects of planning and conducting training sessions, game analysis, scouting, recruiting, team travel, fundraising, equipment management, community relations and academic monitoring.
Before coming to St. Francis, Casper coached as the primary assistant and goalkeepers coach at William Paterson University (Wayne, N.J.). He assisted in planning and conducting training and assisting with the day-to-day management of the program.
In 2008, William Paterson collected 13 wins, including five in conference play to finish the season ranked No. 22 in the NSCAA national poll. William Paterson finished third in the NSCAA Metro Region, winning the ECAC Metro Region Championship. William Paterson won its first post-season championship since 1975 and set a school-record with nine shutouts in 2008.
Casper spent two seasons (2004-05) working as the assistant coach and head junior varsity coach at Timothy Christian High School in Piscataway, N.J., where he was responsible for on-field coaching, planning and conducting training sessions. In 2003, he was the head coach at Somerset Christian Academy in Zarephath, N.J.
He has additional experience as a trainer for the N.Y. Red Bulls Regional Development School (2006-08), where he worked with under-14 field players and goalkeepers. In 2008, he was the trainer for Competitive Goalkeeping in Bridgewater, N.J., training a variety of different ages and levels of keepers.
Casper has a variety of experience in summer camps, coaching at St. Francis, Notre Dame, Navy, Michigan State, Rhode Island and Victory Sports Camps.
Casper had a standout player career as a goalkeeper at Wheaton College (Ill.) and Messiah College (Pa.).While at Wheaton, he had a 0.63 goals-against average in 2001, with five shutouts. After transferring to Messiah College, he served as the starter on the 2002 Division III National Champions, totaling a 0.40 goals-against average and a school-record 16.5 shutouts. In 2006-07, he served as the starting keeper for William Paterson, posting eight shutouts. Following his collegiate career, Casper had a trial with Independiente de Medellin, in the Colombia First Division.
