Men’s recruit: Emmaus’ Souders commits to Lehigh, looks forward to more success

By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/6/09

Emmaus rising senior defenseman Ty Souders has made a verbal commitment to play Division I lacrosse at Lehigh University.

Souders, a Third-Team All-Phillylacrosse.com pick who helped the Green Hornets win the District 11 championship and advance to the state quarterfinals, plans to study business at Lehigh.

“I loved the coaching staff and mainly I picked it for the academics,” said Souders. “It’s got a great business school.”

Souders also likes the direction of the program under coach Kevin Cassese.

“I like where they are headed,” Souders said. “They are building the program and they have the support of the administration. They want to bring it to the top and I definitely want to be on board for all that.

“Coach Cassese has a lot of enthusiasm for the game, and he seems to love lacrosse. He obviously knows a heck of a lot more than I ever will, and I want to be coached by a guy like that.”

Souders, who lives 15 minutes from the campus, said he loves the atmosphere at Bethlehem.

“The campus is beautiful,” he said. “There are plenty of athletic fields and great complexes. They are really into athletics. I went to a few games and the student body is always there. It will be a fun place to play.”

Souders enjoyed a strong year in 2009. His Emmaus squad went 19-6 and finished sixth in the final PA Media Rankings. The Green Hornets, despite having few seniors, also gave Conestoga a scare in the state quarterfinals before bowing, 9-4.

“Yeah, we’re really looking forward to next season,” Souders said. “We’ve worked hard in the off-season in the weightroom and with conditioning. A bunch of us have been starting for three or four years and hopefully we’ll break through further next year.”

This summer, Souders earned accolades as a key member of the highly-ranked Duke’s Lacrosse Club, which recently won its fourth straight crown at Champ Camp. And last weekend he led Lehigh Valley to a gold medal in the Keystone Games where it defeated Philly power and defending champion Delaware County for the title.

“The Duke’s is obviously an established program around the lacrosse community, and we’re expected to go out and deliver,” Souders said. “It was a lot different from the Keystone Games.

“The Lehigh Valley is not as established as the Philly counties. We went in as and underdog and it was awesome to beat those teams and get the first gold for Lehigh Valley.”