Men’s Soccer is Sizzling to Start 2026
Kaleb Wilburn (left) and Carson Shamoo (right) have found the ingredients for success so far for men’s soccer. Image Courtesy of James Moore.
By Sam Bergstrom
The Catholic University Men’s Soccer team has wasted no time putting pedal to the metal to begin their 2026 campaign. Behind their newly explosive offense, the Cards are off to a furious 4-0 start.
From September 4-6, Catholic hosted the Turk Emekli Classic at Carlini Field. This annual showcase honors former player and coach Hicabi “Turk” Emekli, a three-time All-Mason-Dixon Conference selection who helped engineer Catholic’s undefeated 1957 season.
The Cards claimed a 4-0 win against John Carroll to start the showcase on September 4. Catholic drew 17 fouls in this contest, including one that came early inside the penalty box. Sophomore midfielder Carson Shamoo nailed his penalty kick at the 10:32 mark, resulting in Catholic’s first goal of 2026.
The game featured three other goals supplied by senior forward Seth Michalek, senior midfielder Michael Brown, and freshman forward Kaleb Wilburn. Wilburn showed his wheels by gliding down the right wing, shaking off his defender, and netting a beauty for the first collegiate goal of his career.
Senior goalkeeper Owen Allegro held down the majority of this contest while tallying two saves. Junior goalie Trevor Grice was inserted late, making four saves in his 18 minutes of action.
Catholic carried this clean sheet into their next matchup against Mount Saint Mary’s College on September 6. The Cards poured on another barrage to honor Turk with a 5-0 win.
Catholic held the Knights shotless in the first half, bagging a whopping four goals in the process. Senior midfielder Donik Elshani got the goal-scoring going in the 18th minute, and Shamoo added another two minutes later. In the 32nd minute, Willburn helped sophomore forward Hamin Oludakon net his first collegiate goal with a top-bins strike.
Hamin Oludakon celebrates his first collegiate goal against Mount Saint Mary’s College. Image Courtesy of James Moore and Catholic Athletics.
Freshman forwards Alessandro Marquez Zelaya and Jorge Gonzalez-Tello also tallied the first goals of each of their collegiate careers. The second half featured 11 shots by the Cards, with Gonzalez-Tello netting the only goal. Grice played the entirety of this one in net, making two total saves.
“We’re a really deep team, I think more so than we have been in the past,” Head Coach Connor Keenan remarked after the game. “To get guys their first minutes, some of them their first goals, first assists, it’s just awesome.”
With their depth, Catholic scored a staggering nine goals combined in their first two games. This is the most they have achieved since at least 1998, according to Catholic Athletics.
On September 9, St. Mary’s College (MD) became Catholic’s next victim. This road game remained even throughout the first half, with both teams rattling off 7 shots and netting none. However, a Seahawks red card in the 52nd minute opened up the offensive floodgates for Catholic; the Cards capitalized with two quick goals in an 11-on-10 attack.
The first score came in the 55th minute from senior forward Azaria Tewodros, who slotted his first goal of 2026. In the 63rd minute, Oludakon dropped in his second of the season off an assist from Michalek. The Seahawks secured a penalty kick goal in the 86th minute, but the Cards still flew away with a 2-1 win.
After travelling down to North Carolina, Catholic collected another 2-1 triumph on Saturday against North Carolina Wesleyan. A scoreless first half saw a combined 4 shots by both teams, but Michalek eventually netted his second goal of the season in the 57th minute.
The Bishops battled back with a goal in the 65th minute, but not before a courageous Catholic response. Wilburn set up sophomore midfielder Andres Lopez, who launched his first goal of 2026. N.C. Weseleyan rattled off just two more shots after the Lopez score, with neither of them finding their way past Allegro.
So far this season, Catholic has 8 assists, 10 saves, and a Landmark-leading 13 goals. 10 different players have found the back of the net thus far, with three of them—Wilburn, Marquez Zelaya and Gonzalez-Tello—being freshmen.
Due to their dominance, Catholic was recently ranked 16th in the United Soccer Coaches poll for all of Division III men’s soccer. The #16 Cards will look to improve to 5-0 tonight against Neumann University at 7 P.M. on Carlini Field.
