While playing at Hofstra University with his brothers, Chris and Mike, Kevin Unterstein didn’t have any thoughts about coaching lacrosse—he was just trying to complete his sociology degree while playing for the university’s lacrosse team.
Now, not only has Unterstein completed his degree, he is a volunteer assistant coach for DU’s men’s lacrosse team and plays Major League Lacrosse for the Denver Outlaws.
Last year, Unterstein coached the defense and face-off specialists at Princeton University with Pioneer men’s lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney.
“I loved Princeton, it was a great school,” said Unterstein. “It was a great opportunity especially with Coach T [head coach Bill Tierney]. I could not ask to be in a better spot, [or] college, besides here of course, and learning from Coach T who is arguably one of the greatest coaches in lacrosse.
“What happened was coach T [head coach Bill Tierney] made his choice to leave Princeton to come out here and he gave me the opportunity to come out here with him,” Unterstein said. “I learned so much from him last year that I wanted to continue.”
At DU, Unterstein assists assistant coach Trevor Tierney with the defense. He works with the man-down unit and with the defensive midfielders. His main focus, however, is with the face-off game and the players who handle face-offs, such as senior Dillon Roy and freshman Chase Carraro.
“I have never had a face-off coach before until now, being from Kentucky,” said Carraro. “Having him [Unterstein] teach me a lot of different aspects about face-offs has added a whole new element to my game.”
He has done a great job helping Roy and Carraro hone their skills this year. Roy has won more 54.3 percent of his face-offs, while Carraro has won 48.1 percent of his on the season.
“They have always had it,” Unterstein said. “I just show them some little techniques. Basically they are both really hard working kids so it is very easy to teach.”
Carraro said, “If you have somebody there to tell you what you are doing wrong and analyze all that you are doing it helps so much, because you can’t read what you are doing by yourself. You can’t watch yourself.”
Before Unterstein got his start in coaching lacrosse he started and was an All-American at Shoreham-Wading River High, where he led his team to four Suffolk County championships and a New York state championship.
At Hofstra, in his sophomore year he helped lead the Pride to a No. 2 national ranking and a No. 3-seed in the NCAA tournament. His junior year, he earned USILA All-American honors.
His best college year came in 2008 when he was named to the CAA All-Tournament team, First-Team All-CAA and he won the Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Pioneers team off to a rough start starting the year at 1-3 losing to top-ranked Syracuse and lowly Jacksonville, but ended up winning nine consecutive games to end the regular season. Unterstein said the coaches were always confident in their players, despite the slow start.
“It was a rough start, but all the coaches knew that we had the talent right when we got here,” Unterstein said.
Unterstein’s decision to join head coach Tierney out here in Denver has paid off for both him and the team. The Pioneers have made the NCAA tournament and the move led to Unterstein to be traded to the Outlaws.
“I love everything about this university. It is very athletic-minded,” Unterstein said. “You know sometimes you get some schools where it’s like hit or miss. Out here they really care about their sports.”
