By Scott Johnston
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/23/11
After spending the last four years of his life starting up a new lacrosse program at a Division III institution, Scott Ketcham decided that he wanted to move back to the Lehigh Valley area to be close to his family.
In the not-so-distant future, Ketcham and his wife, Marissa, are looking to start their own family.
In the meantime, the 34-year-old will settle in with his new family at Emmaus High School.
Ketcham, who was recently the head coach at Randolph College (Va.) and formerly an assistant at nearby Muhlenberg, was recently approved by the East Penn school board to become the school’s boys’ lacrosse coach.
“Being at Emmaus is a dream job for a coach that wants to coach high school lacrosse,” said Ketcham. “This is a program that has a tremendous amount of support from the parents, to the boosters, to the administration, and the community.”
Ketcham takes over for Jef Hewlings, who stepped down in early June after leading the Hornets to a 66-22 overall mark, four league titles and two trips to the state tournament the past four seasons.
“With that, I think we have the groundwork in place thanks to Jef, Andy Scott and the previous coaches here to continue to be a successful program,” said Ketcham.
Ketcham grew up on Long Island and played lacrosse at Garden City High School where he won a state title in 1994 and was his team’s MVP in ’95.
After graduating high school, he attended Hampden Sydney College, a Division III school located in Virginia. While at Hampden-Sydney, Ketcham was a two-time Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) all conference member as well as a two-time United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-American goalie.
He helped lead the Tigers to consecutive NCAA Division III quarterfinal appearances. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1999.
Following graduation, he went into politics for four and half years and served as an assistant coach for two years at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Va., for two years before returning to the Lehigh Valley as an assistant coach at Muhlenberg College from 2005-07.
Ketcham is currently pursuing a master’s degree and his Pa. Teachers Certification in Secondary Education at East Stroudsburg University.
He and his wife currently reside in Lake Wallenpaupack area but will be looking to relocate to the East Penn School District soon.
Ketcham inherits a Green Hornets team that finished 15-6 last season and won its third straight Lehigh Valley Conference title (it also won the final two Penn Valley titles). Emmaus’ bid for a three-peat in the District XI playoffs ended in stunning fashion in the semifinal round as its was upset by Nazareth 12-11 in overtime at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown.
Emmaus lost six seniors to graduation, including the school’s all-time leading scorer Dan Kinek (PG at Avon Old Farms, CT, committed to Mchigan).
Despite the loss of Kinek, the Hornets will return six of its top seven scorers in juniors Zack Schleicher (35 goals/12 assists, 47 points), Marc Feldman (15/13, 28) along with seniors Cole Campbell (17/11, 28), Travis Schmidt (22/8, 30) and Tyler Kennedy (20/9, 29).
Defensively, Emmaus will also return seniors Cory Souders and Austin Schadt along with rising junior goalie Garrett Miers.
The Green Hornets open their 2012 season on March 23, hosting Downingtown East.
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