Promoted to Harvard's associate head coach on Oct. 3, 2013, Mike Calise enters his 17th season overall with the Crimson in 2024-25. 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 146-82-22 (65-26-14 Ivy), including eight 10-win campaigns and 13 consecutive .500-or-better seasons. Calise has also helped the Crimson win four conference titles and appear in seven NCAA tournaments.
The Crimson made its second consecutive trip to the Ivy League Tournament in 2024, winning its final two games of the regular season - Including a come-from-behind win over Yale in the team's final match - to qualify. Harvard won seven games during the campaign that also including five draws against a number of highly ranked opponents. The Crimson, once again, compiled a number of impressive accolades under Hamblin, Calise and McDevitt in 2024 most notable posting the second longest shutout streak to begin a season in program history at 441 consecutive minutes. Six players earned All-Ivy accolades after remarkable seasons on the pitch, three of which were First Team selections for Jade Rose, Josefine Hasbo and Áslaug Gunnlaugsdóttir. Rose was also honored as a CSC First-Team Academic All-American after the season.
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 and the group made history during the 2023 season, winning 13 games and capturing the inaugural Ivy League Tournament Championship. The 13-win total was the most for the program since the 1999 season and was driven by a scoring offense that ranked 12th in the nation and atop the Ivy League by scoring 2.53 goals per game. Harvard rose to as high as No. 14 in the NCAA RPI poll and No. 10 in the Top Drawer Soccer Rankings during its historic season. Under his guidance, six players earned All-Ivy honors and two of his players - Josefine Hasbo and Jade Rose - were named All-Americans. Harvard's Ivy League crown gave them it's third consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament, where it broke a first-round attendance record, packing over 1,600 fans into Jordan Field for the match.
The Crimson continued its rise during the 2022 season, posting a 12-2-3 record that included an unbeaten 5-0-2 mark in Ivy League action. The team finished the year ranked No. 25 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and climbed to as high at No. 9 in the NCAA RPI rankings during the successful campaign. Harvard advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after receiving an at-large bid to the field of 64. Under his mentorship, Jade Rose and Hannah Bebar both earned All-America honors and the team received six All-Ivy team honors - including Rose who also was named the Ivy League's Defensive Player of the Year - and six Academic All-District selections.
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.
Calise and the rest of the Harvard staff was hard at work during 2020, putting together one of the most prolific recruiting classes in mid-major collegiate soccer history. The class was ranked inside the National top 10 and remains the highest ranked recruiting class in Ivy League history. The group featured three players in the National top 10 including Hannah Bebar (No. 1), Smith Hunter (No. 4) and Ainsley Ahmadian (No. 9). Also featured in the class was Josefine Hasbo, who went on to become a full National Team player with Denmark, where she competed in the 2023 Women's World Cup. This class played a major role in the future success of the program and helped lead the team to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances while collecting a host of individual honors. Most notably, Bebar and Hasbo, who each received a MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist distinction in their careers.
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.
