From the podcast: How cancer fight has shaped Kevin Tersolo’s coaching

Pingree School coach Kevin Tersolo joined the "Chasing the Goal" podcast this week. (Pingree Athletics)

On this week’s episode of New England Lacrosse Journal’s “Chasing The Goal” podcast, hosts Kyle Devitte and Jack Piatelli talk with Pingree School head coach Kevin Tersolo.

Tersolo has been leading the Highlanders for more than a decade now and the team enjoyed one of its best seasons in recent memory in 2023, going 22-2 with wins against Independent School League opponents Roxbury Latin, Middlesex and Thayer to start last season, and against many teams from the Lakes Region.

With several players committing in the team’s 2025 class, the trend of success should continue next spring.

On the podcast, Tersolo also talks about how his background as a fitness trainer shaped his coaching style early on and how it progressed. He also speaks about the right student-athlete for his program, as well as his battle with cancer and how his recovery from that diagnosis was so impactful to his coaching.

Watch the full podcast below on YouTube. It’s also available on all major podcast platforms. If you enjoy it, please leave a rating and a review. Watch more episodes on the Chasing the Goal podcast channel.

Here are some excerpts from the pod.

Kyle Devitte: Being a trainer and having the physical aspect sets you apart from people who are just lacrosse coaches. How important was that when you started bringing kids in to incorporate fitness, weightlifting, running and conditioning? 

Kevin Tersolo: I think it’s it’s such an important part of the game, where it brings a player’s level from, if you come in and you’re not fully developed as a freshman, a sophomore. The ability to transform your body by weight training is huge because you go from being bullied on the field to becoming the bully. I remember when I played in high school; I was 147 pounds. When I played in college, I was 165 pounds. Every goal that I scored in high school you’re picking me up off the ground. But when I scored a goal in college, it was other guys being on the ground. I could withstand the contact and that really transformed my game.

But I see it with all of our players. They can be 130 pounds and, after one year in the weight room, they can go put 15 pounds on with no problem, with the right eating and weight training. So it’s just putting that amount of weight on that really can transform your game.

Jack Piatelli: New England’s known for all the prep schools. There are so many prep schools in Connecticut, New Hampshire, a lot of boarding schools, obviously Vermont, especially Massachusetts. What is it about Pingree that draws student-athletes to it? Because there’s so many options out there. 

Kevin Tersolo: I think there’s a few things. One is being a private school; there are a lot of parents that want their kids to come home after school. When your kid goes off to college, they’re not coming home after that. So they may be home for a year until they get their job. And then they’re on their own. They get their own apartment and all that. But they’re trying to hold onto that, which I think is important, too. If you want your kids to be home after school, then where is the day school that offers that? We also have smaller classroom sizes. We could have nine to 14 kids in a class. So the learning environment is incredible. It’s literally a round-table atmosphere or it’s set up in a horseshoe. 

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