Coaches

Mike Calise

Associate Head Coach - Recruiting Coordinator

wsoccer@fas.harvard.edu

(617) 496-6870

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Promoted to Harvard's associate head coach on Oct. 3, 2013, Mike Calise enters his 15th season overall with the Crimson in 2022-23. Calise rejoined the women’s soccer staff as an assistant coach in March 2010, after previously serving in Cambridge during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

During his time at Harvard, the Crimson has posted an overall record of 121-76-22 (55-25-11 Ivy), including six 10-win campaigns and 11 consecutive .500-or-better seasons. Calise has also helped the Crimson win four conference titles and appear in five NCAA tournaments.

After the 2023 Fall Season wrapped up, Calise was honored by College Soccer News as he was named one of the top 12 assistant coaches in the nation. 

Calise helped lead the Crimson to an at-large berth in the 2021 NCAA Championship as the program made its 17th all-time NCAA appearance and gained its first at-large bid since 2004. The Crimson went 12-3-1 on the year and earned rankings as high as No. 4 in the NCAA RPI, No. 8 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll, and No. 16 in the United Soccer Coaches poll. Hannah Bebar collected both Third Team All-America and Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors. The Crimson totaled six All-Ivy selections and five Academic All-District choices.

In 2019, Harvard posted a 12-3-1 overall record, including a 5-1-1 mark in Ivy League action to finish second in the conference standings. Murphy Agnew was tabbed as the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year and was one of six Crimson players to earn All-Ivy honors. Additionally, Cammie Dopke and Taylor Nielson earned CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades in 2019. Harvard’s 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19.

Harvard boasted some of the Ivy League’s top players in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, Agnew was the conference rookie of the year and Dani Stollar became a four-time All-Ivy honoree. In 2018, Agnew and Leah Mohammadi earned First Team All-Ivy selections. The Class of 2018 left its mark on the program as it posted 30 clean sheets over its four seasons.

Harvard claimed its third Ivy title in four years in 2016, going unbeaten at 5-0-2 in conference play to earn the crown. Six Crimson student-athletes earned All-Ivy honors, led by two-time player of the year Margaret Purce, who was also an All-American. Harvard gave up only three goals in Ivy play for the second straight season.

Calise helped guide Harvard to its second-straight 5-1-1 Ivy League mark in 2015 as the team finished with a winning record for the ninth-straight year. The Crimson finished second in the Ancient Eight and led the way with eight student-athletes receiving All-Ivy recognition. Harvard also led the Ivy League with only three goals allowed in conference play.

In 2014, the Crimson won its second Ivy title in a row, finishing 5-1-1 in conference play, before advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament after routing Central Connecticut State in the first round in Cambridge, 6-0. The victory gave Harvard its first round-of-32 appearance since 2001.

Calise earned the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year Award in 2013 after helping Harvard to its 11th Ivy League title, wrapping its conference slate with a perfect 7-0 record for the first time since 1999. Purce was named the Ivy League Rookie and Player of the Year, as well as a unanimous selection to the Ancient Eight first team. Senior captain Peyton Johnson (unanimous) and sophomore Haley Washburn also earned first team accolades, headlining seven total Crimson student-athletes to garner conference honors.

In 2012, Calise and Harvard posted its third straight winning season since Calise rejoined the program, going 9-5-3 overall. Meg Casscells-Hamby earned First Team All-Ivy honors, while four other players garnered all-conference selections.

During the 2011 season, Calise and the Crimson won the program’s 10th Ivy League title and returned to the NCAA tournament. Harvard posted a 10-1 record at home and went unbeaten in its final 10 games of the regular season (9-0-1). The Crimson owned a 6-0-1 record in Ivy games, going unbeaten for the first time in conference action since 1999. In addition, Melanie Baskind was named Ivy League Player of the Year and was on the All-Ancient Eight first team along with Peyton Johnson and Lindsey Kowal.

In his first season back with Harvard in 2010, Calise helped Harvard to a 9-7-1 overall record and 4-3-0 mark in the Ivy League. The Crimson earned four selections to the All-Ivy first team, including conference player of the year Katherine Sheeleigh '11, marking the most first-team selections for the program since 1999. Harvard also boasted the league's top two scorers (Sheeleigh and Melanie Baskind) and led the conference in goals with 31.

Calise was reunited with then-head coach Ray Leone at Harvard after working together at Arizona State from 2000-04.

Calise, who served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Boston College in between his tenures at Harvard, was the top assistant coach with the Crimson during his previous tenure at Harvard. During his time in Cambridge, he helped to organize a defense which finished the 2005 season as the ninth-ranked defense in the nation (0.473 goals against per game) and was fifth in the nation in shutout percentage with a school-record 11 shutouts in 16 matches.

Prior to his first stint at Harvard, Calise spent four years at Arizona State, where he was elevated to associate head coach prior to the 2004 season. Calise brought two top-10 classes to the Sun Devils, including a school-best No. 4 national ranking for the 2002 class by Soccer America and Soccer Buzz.

Calise's on and off-the-field performances have been noted nationally as he was selected as one of the nation's five women's soccer collegiate assistant coaches to earn the second annual AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award. Criteria for the award included longevity, expertise, contributions to the school and community, and special achievements throughout their careers. In 2002, he received the Nike/April Heinrichs Coaching Education Award.

Over his four-year tenure as an assistant coach under Leone in Tempe, the Sun Devils achieved an overall record of 43-29-8, and twice qualified for the NCAA tournament. In 2003, Calise assisted the Sun Devils to the second round of the NCAA Championship for the third time in four years and recorded the highest winning percentage in school history (.690). The Sun Devils also set another school mark as they finished the season ranked in the top-25 by all four major polls.

Prior to Arizona State, Calise was at Princeton, where he helped build the Tigers into a nationally prominent program, leading them to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1983 and their first Ivy League crown since 1982. Instrumental in the team's success, Calise assisted Princeton to NCAA tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000.

Calise earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Boston College in 1997, where he was a four-year member of the men's soccer team. He was also a member of the Eagles' 1995 Big East championship team.

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