« Men’s Soccer 2015

Mike Casey

School
Rhode Island
Position
Forward
Major
Finance (undergrad) / MBA (grad school)

Classroom

Mike Casey completed his undergraduate studies in the spring of 2015, earning a bachelor’s degree in finance and graduating magna cum laude with a 3.52 cumulative GPA. He is currently enrolled in grad school and is on pace to obtain his MBA in the summer of 2016. A seven-time member of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (semester GPA of 3.50 or better), he was one of 10 University of Rhode Island students honored as a distinguished scholar at the Rhode Island State House his junior year. As a senior, he received URI’s College of Business Student-Athlete Award for exhibiting excellence both on the field and in the classroom. He also was selected to travel to New York City to attend the three-day Global Asset Management Education Forum as a student participant during the spring of 2015.

Character

Now in his third year as a team captain, Casey emerged as a leader early on in his career as his tireless work ethic and unwavering commitment to the team have rarely gone unnoticed. Coming off a sophomore season in which he led URI in scoring, he tore his ACL in the off-season and was forced to miss his junior year while recovering from surgery. Despite the frustration of being unable to contribute on the field that season, Casey remained positive for his teammates and did what he could to assist in practices while providing encouragement from the bench during games. But his presence on the field was sorely missed as the team scored just 11 goals and went 2-14 with an 0-8 showing in the Atlantic 10 that year. Casey returned in 2014 and—while battling through a back injury that caused him to miss six games—he helped lead Rhode Island to a 13-5-3 record, as well as the A-10 regular season title and URI’s first national ranking in nearly a decade. Perhaps the most impressive aspect was that Rhode Island’s worst-to-first turnaround came with nine newcomers on the team—all of whom undoubtedly benefitted from Casey’s leadership and guidance.

Outside of the team setting, Casey has been active in URI’s Peer Advocacy Program, working with students and on-campus leaders to increase awareness regarding partner violence, stalking, sexual abuse and harassment. He also has delivered lectures to freshmen on the topics of alcohol and drug safety.

Community

In the spring of 2013, Casey successfully organized a “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event by inspiring his entire team to walk around URI’s quad in high heels while carrying posters to raise awareness of rape, sexual assault and violence against women. The affects were long-lasting as the team’s efforts were not only seen by hundreds of students on campus, but were also featured in URI’s alumni magazine. Additionally, Casey has been involved in a variety of community outreach activities as a two-year member of URI’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), including spending time reading to students at nearby elementary schools.

To give back to the game of soccer, he has volunteered his time coaching at numerous youth camps and clinics over the last five years, while also serving as an assistant coach for his local U15/U16 club soccer teams.

Competition

Casey finished second on the team in assists his freshman year before leading the team in scoring and receiving URI’s Offensive MVP award as a sophomore. After missing his junior year with an injury, he recorded 11 points (5 goals/1 assist) in an injury-shortened senior season. His most memorable performance came in the semifinals of the 2014 Atlantic 10 Championship when—with Rhode Island facing elimination—he scored an 87th minute equalizer before netting a diving header in double-overtime to lock up the 2-1 victory and send URI to the title game. For his performance, he was named to the 2014 A-10 All-Championship Team.

Casey went on to graduate that spring, but driven by a competitive nature and the desire to see those around him succeed he has returned this year as a grad student, using his fifth year of eligibility to once again try to lead his team to a championship.