Men’s Soccer Looks to Continue Landmark Conference Domination
Image courtesy of Ryan Tufford and Catholic Athletics.
By Griffin Cappiello
After a successful season that culminated in an unprecedented third consecutive Landmark Conference Championship, Catholic University men’s soccer looks to keep their championship streak alive. The Cardinals are coming off a 14-1-6 season, going 6-0-3 in Landmark Conference play.
Head Coach Connor Keenan returns for his third season at the helm for Catholic. Keenan has posted an all-time record of 24-7-11 and has led the Cardinals to two straight Landmark Conference Championships.
Also returning for the 2026 season are nine starters from the 2025 Landmark Conference Championship, five of whom received All-Conference honors. Notably, the entire Cardinal backline, which finished eighth in the country in goals-against average and eleventh in shutouts, will be back for this year’s campaign; senior goalkeeper Owen Allegro, senior defender Corey Magro, and junior defenders Graham Leary and Ellington Andrews are all set to return. Magro was named to the All-Conference First Team, while Allegro was named to the Second Team.
All three starting midfielders for the Cardinals will be back for 2026; senior Charlie Paparella, junior Francesco Mattucci, and sophomore Carson Shamoo all had impressive performances last year. Paparella and Shamoo were both named to the All-Conference First Team, and Shamoo was named the Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year.
With four seniors graduating at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, the Cardinals also brought in seven freshman players and one junior transfer hailing from four different states.
The biggest question mark for Catholic comes with the departure of two-time Landmark Conference Offensive Player of the Year Holden Woodings; the forward contributed a conference-leading 10 goals in the 2025 campaign. Even so, the Cardinals have no shortage of goalscoring talent. Senior forward Seth Michalak scored 6 goals in 2025, including 4 game-winners – one of which won the Cardinals the Landmark Conference Championship. Shamoo and senior forward Azaria Tewodros can also contribute to the Catholic attack; both players scored 4 goals last season.
Catholic was picked to finish first in the Landmark Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll, receiving 79 points and 7 first-place votes. The Cardinals are undefeated in conference play since October of 2021.
The Cardinals will kick off the season with the Turk Emekli Classic. They will host John Carroll on September 4 at 7 pm at Carlini Field.
