Traditionally, college has always been viewed as an opportunity for students to further their education, while also providing a chance for students to get away from the parental figures in their lives.

This theory is quite common, except in the case of red-shirt freshman forward Ian McCausland.

McCausland has lived in Charleston with his family for his entire high school career as well as his first year in college, with both his mother and father being involved in the Eastern community.

McCausland’s father, Ralph, is a former Eastern head coach in wrestling and was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989, while McCausland’s mother, Joan, is a professor of health studies at Eastern.

Despite his family’s connection to Eastern, McCausland said that the reason he decided to attend Eastern was because he wanted to play at a high level of competition in soccer.

“In the beginning, I really didn’t know where I wanted to go, so I started looking at universities like Milikin and Eastern actually was the last D-I school that I looked at,” McCausland said. “I just wanted to play at the highest level that I could possibly play at and Eastern was probably the best school I could go to.”

McCausland, a four-year varsity letter winner at Charleston High School, was not completely unfamiliar with Eastern’s soccer program because of previously playing soccer for Eastern’s assistant coach Dino Raso.

Raso currently runs a U-18 Panther Soccer Club (CFC) that allows local Charleston athletes to come and compete in soccer under the watch of a college coach, which is how McCausland came to meet Raso.

McCausland said his familiarity with Raso, made his decision to attend Eastern much easier.

“He was my club coach and I really enjoyed playing under him, so it made sense for me to come to Eastern and continue to learn from him,” McCausland said.

McCausland said his decision to attend Eastern and stay closer to home has had both advantages and disadvantages.

“Going home and doing some laundry or getting some food is always nice, but sometimes you just want to get away,” McCausland said.

Raso said McCausland’s decision to come to Eastern could be because of his character of being a family-oriented person.

“In terms of character, (McCausland) is one of the best young men that I have ever had to deal with,” Raso said. “He has a solid character and is very family oriented. He has a great sense of family, so I think that staying in a smaller community suits him just fine.”

Neil Scheider can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected].