WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic men's soccer team wrapped up the Turk Emekli Classic in emphatic fashion on Sunday afternoon, taking down King's in an impressive 4-0 win in which the team dominated in all facets of the game. The win marks the first career win at Carlini Field for first year head coach Connor Keenan. 

After creating several promising chances in the first half hour of the match, the Cardinals finally broke through to come away with the game's first goal. After a ball was miscontrolled by the Monarch's keeper, Liam Giblin was out in front of net to take it away and set up a very easy chance for Corey Magro, who smashed it home into the empty net with his right foot to give Catholic a lead they would not squander the rest of the day.

Catholic's defense made life difficult on King's throughout the entire half and held them to just two shots. Owen Allegro made one key save in the half on a shot towards the bottom left corner by Nate Horn.

It did not take the Cardinals long into the second half to find a second that created some more breathing room. Domenico Caltabiano delivered in a cross from the right corner that was initially punched away by the goalie, however Luke Lillis kept it in the penalty area and placed a pass in front of goal for Owen Maher. Maher fired a shot into the top of the net to convert off the corner and put Catholic on top 2-0 with 42 minutes left in regulation.

The set pieces continued to pay off for Catholic less than 10 minutes later in the half as they scored off yet another corner kick to make it a three goal advantage. This time the corner was delivered in by Hayden Lim, who placed right in front of the goal line and Azaria Tewodros rose above everyone in the box and headed it into the goal to give the Cards a commanding lead.

The Cardinals added one final blow to the Monarchs with just over 19 minutes remaining when Holden Woodings raced down the field to get in behind the King's defense. Woodings was tripped up just inside the right edge of the 18-yard box to earn a penalty kick for Catholic. The junior striker stepped up to the spot and sent the keeper the wrong way to convert on the penalty and complete a 4-0 dominating performance for the Cards.

The Cardinals defense was outstanding during the match holding King's to just three shots for the entire game. Allegro and the rest of the defense earned their first clean sheet on the season in the victory.

Woodings' goal marks the third consecutive game he has scored in during his first season with the Cardinals. He leads all Catholic scorers so far this season with three goals, followed by Maher who found the back of the net for the second time this season. Tewodros' goal was the first of his collegiate career after playing in nine matches as a freshman last season. Lim continues to pace all Cardinals in assists with today being his third and he also has recorded an assist in three consecutive games.

Today marked the end of the 2024 Turk Emekli Classic with the Cortland Red Dragons taking home the tournament hardware after being the only team to go 2-0 over the weekend. Cortland finished with a plus six goal differential, outscoring its opponents 7-1.

The Cardinals begin a four-game road trip on Saturday, September 14 when they travel to Virginia Beach to take on Virginia Wesleyan. Kick off for that match is set for 2 pm.