• 2000, 2001, 2003 PSAC Coach of the Year
The longest tenured Cal U head coach, Dennis Laskey enters his 27th season (22nd consecutive) at the helm of the men’s soccer program in 2012. He ranks in the top 20 nationally among active head coaches in NCAA Division II in career victories.
Laskey has been with the Vulcans for almost the entire 29 years of the program, dating back to the inaugural season of 1984. During his time at Cal U, he holds a 247-217-39 overall record (.530) with five appearances in the PSAC Championship Game and three berths in the NCAA Tournament.
In 2011, Laskey helped lead the Vulcans back to the postseason for the first time in three years while the program debuted the Phillipsburg Soccer Facility. He also guided the program to its first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament last year.
Behind an improbable late-season surge in 2008, Cal U won the PSAC West title and claimed the program’s first-ever PSAC Tournament Championship. The Vulcans also garnered a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004.
In addition to his 27 years with the men’s program, Laskey was also instrumental in the creation of the women’s soccer program at Cal U. He served as the first head coach for the women’s program in 1990 and coached both the men’s and women’s soccer teams from 1991-2001.
A native of nearby Dunlevy, Pa., he has coached five players that were inducted into the Cal U Athletic Hall of Fame. Nicholas Addlery, who plays professionally, and Audrey Dawson were both inducted into the Cal U Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.
Laskey played in the Pennsylvania West Soccer League for more than four decades and was a member of the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) National Championship team in 2005. Two years later, he was inducted into the Mid-Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame. This summer, Laskey was selected to All-Half Century Team at Charleroi High School and will be recognized this fall as one of the top 18 players in school history.
A four-year starting defender at Alderson-Broaddus, Laskey earned honorable mention from the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC). Following his time at A-B, he joined the U.S. Navy in 1972 and continued his playing career throughout Europe for the U.S. Navy Phiblant team stationed in the Mediterranean.
Laskey, who finished his degree at Cal U after his tour of duty, entered the coaching ranks as head coach at Charleroi High School from 1978-83. He also served as the co-founder and first president of the Mon Valley Youth Soccer Association.
He moved to the collegiate game in 1983 working with the Vulcan men’s soccer team on the club level before the program moved to the NCAA level in 1984. He coached Cal U for five seasons, winning three-straight West Penn Intercollegiate Soccer conference titles (1986-88) that included NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA teams.
In 1989, he moved back to the scholastic level coaching Upper St. Clair High School to a pair of WPIAL titles before returning back to Cal U to start the women’s soccer program.
Laskey, who holds a master’s degree in sport management and a post-baccalaureate degree in athletic administration from Cal U, resides in Charleroi, Pa., with his wife Jeanne. The couple has three children, Deni Lynn, Deiter and Marissa, and three grandchildren, Jesse, Jude and Priya.
LASKEY YEAR-BY-YEAR COACHING RECORD
|
Year |
Overall
Record |
Win Pct. |
PSAC
Record
|
Win Pct. |
Post-Season |
|
1984 |
4-7-1 |
.375 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
|
1985 |
1-17-0 |
.056 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
|
1986 |
8-8-3 |
.500 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
|
1987 |
8-8-2 |
.500 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
|
1988 |
10-8-2 |
.550 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
|
1991 |
8-11-1 |
.425 |
1-2-0 |
.333 |
--- |
|
1992 |
11-3-0 |
.786 |
1-3-0 |
.250 |
--- |
|
1993 |
13-4-2 |
.737 |
4-2-1 |
.643 |
PSAC Semifinals |
|
1994 |
8-11-0 |
.421 |
2-6-0 |
.250 |
--- |
|
1995 |
6-11-3 |
.375 |
2-3-2 |
.429 |
--- |
|
1996 |
3-16-1 |
.175 |
1-7-0 |
.125 |
--- |
|
1997 |
8-10-1 |
.447 |
3-5-1 |
.389 |
--- |
|
1998 |
10-9-1 |
.525 |
3-4-1 |
.438 |
--- |
|
1999 |
12-7-1 |
.625 |
3-5-0 |
.375 |
--- |
|
2000 |
14-7-0 |
.667 |
6-2-0 |
.750 |
PSAC Tournament Runner-Up |
|
2001 |
11-8-2 |
.571 |
5-1-2 |
.750 |
PSAC Regular Season Champions
PSAC Tournament Runner-Up |
|
2002 |
9-9-0 |
.500 |
3-5-0 |
.375 |
--- |
|
2003 |
12-7-3 |
.614 |
5-3-0 |
.625 |
PSAC Tournament Runner-Up |
|
2004 |
12-7-2 |
.619 |
6-1-1 |
.813 |
PSAC Regular Season Champions
PSAC Tournament Semifinals
** NCAA Tournament ** |
|
2005 |
14-8-0 |
.636 |
11-5-0 |
.688 |
PSAC Regular Season Champions
PSAC Tournament Runner-Up |
|
2006 |
7-10-3 |
.425 |
6-7-3 |
.469 |
--- |
|
2007 |
10-7-3 |
.575 |
7-6-2 |
.533 |
--- |
|
2008 |
13-8-2 |
.609 |
4-3-1 |
.563 |
PSAC West Champions
** PSAC Tournament Champions **
** NCAA Tournament ** |
|
2009 |
12-7-0 |
.632 |
3-5-0 |
.375 |
--- |
|
2010 |
11-5-2 |
.667 |
2-5-2 |
.333 |
--- |
|
2011 |
12-4-4 |
.700 |
6-2-1 |
.722 |
** NCAA Tournament ** |
|
TOTALS |
247-217-39 |
.530 |
84-82-17
|
.505 |
|
updated as of Aug. 27, 2012
