“Real men have boys,” said Brad McAdam when sophomore midfielder Casey McAdam was born on Sept. 8, 1995. On the other end of the phone was his close friend, Mark Raposo, father of sophomore attackman Matt Raposo.
Casey McAdam (photo courtesy of Lehigh Sports)
Twenty years after that phone call was made from New Brunswick Hospital in New Jersey, the two young men ended up playing on the same lacrosse team at Lehigh.
At first, it was questionable as to whether or not the duo would be continuing their lacrosse and academic careers together at Lehigh. McAdam had his eyes set on Lehigh from the beginning, but Raposo was initially committed to Drexel University in Philadelphia.
“The first time that we got to see them play was at a prospect camp that we had here at Lehigh over the summer,” said coach Kevin Cassese, noting that they were both impressive players to keep their eyes on.
McAdam ended up winning the MVP award of the camp. Cassese said that with McAdam, they knew from the beginning that Lehigh would be a perfect and natural fit for him. With a top lacrosse program and a strong engineering program, the puzzle pieces fit well together and McAdam committed in the fall of his junior year.
Matt Raposo (photo courtesy of Lehigh Sports)
“I wasn’t sure about Lehigh like Casey was because I had always heard that it was an engineering school, so I committed to Drexel,” Raposo said.
As more time went on, Raposo was having second thoughts about if Drexel was the place that he wanted to spend the next four years of his life.
“I didn’t know if I saw myself there anymore,” Raposo said.
He quickly contacted Cassese after these thoughts started to develop, decommitted from Drexel, and the class of 2017 commitments got bigger at Lehigh.
“We saw them multiple times after that with their high school team and then with their club program,” Cassese said. “We saw them play a bunch and kept track of their progress over the next year and a half.”
McAdam’s and Raposo’s parents were initially a bit unsure about their sons both going to Lehigh.
“At first our parents didn’t like the idea of us going to college together,” Raposo said. “They thought that we maybe needed to be away from each other for once in our lives.”
The only time they played separate sports was when they were younger. McAdam played flag football and Raposo played soccer.
“My dad played lacrosse and had always loved lacrosse, so I played early and Casey started a year after me,” Raposo said.
Growing up, the two always played on the same lacrosse team. They started with a local traveling team in Bridgewater, New Jersey, and eventually moved to their club team, Leading Edge, in the eighth grade.
Their team chemistry continued when the two entered high school. They both attended Somerville High School where they went on to be two-time state championship finalists and co-winners of the school’s lacrosse MVP award.
McAdam and Raposo both agreed that transitioning from high school to college would be a bigger challenge for them.
“You’re surrounded by a lot of talented players all the time,” Raposo said. “It just gives you a lot of room to improve.”
Lehigh has given the duo the opportunity to continue their careers in lacrosse and academics, with McAdam as the starting faceoff man and Raposo starting at attack.
“Their relationship is really strong,” Cassese said. “From the chemistry they have in the locker room, to the on-field chemistry that they have, it’s pretty obvious. It’s the same relationship you have with a sibling. They definitely look like brothers out there. They both have had major impacts on the program so far. They are a part of the future of the program.”
From diapers to college, the two agree that they will be lifelong friends.
With the lacrosse team being two games into the season, the two have their eyes set on holding the Patriot League Championship trophy at the end of the season, just like they held their flag football trophies when they were growing up.
The men’s lacrosse team will play its second Patriot League game this Saturday against Boston University at 1 p.m. at Banko Field.
Comment policy
Comments posted to The Brown and White website are reviewed by a moderator before being approved. Incendiary speech or harassing language, including comments targeted at individuals, may be deemed unacceptable and not published. Spam and other soliciting will also be declined.
The Brown and White also reserves the right to not publish entirely anonymous comments.