HUNTINGDON, Pa.  – The Catholic men's soccer team looked to close the regular season on the right foot as it took on Juniata in the regular season finale on Tuesday night. After a stalemate in the first half, the Cardinals seized momentum in the opening 31 seconds of the second half when Donik Elshani scored to give the team a 1-0 that they would not squander for the remainder of the action. 

Off the kickoff, Ben Zimmer won the ball for the Cardinals in the Eagles half, and slid a pass into the penalty area to Carson Shamoo. Shamoo played a pass over to his left inside the 18-yard box where Elshani was waiting to rip the game-winning goal into the back of the net. It was Elshani's second goal of the season and his first since the season-opener against Shenandoah.

Juniata held a slight shot advantage in the first half 7-5, but Catholic put more shots on target than the Eagles, forcing Maxwell Mattioni to make two saves in the first 45 minutes. Owen Allegro also came up with a save to keep the match deadlocked at zero heading into the halftime break.

Catholic nearly bagged a second goal just one minute after Elshani's on a shot from Holden Woodings, but Mattoni came up with a save to keep the deficit at one. The Cardinals backline had to hold strong for the final 44 minutes of the match after taking the lead. Allegro made three more saves in the second half, including two in the final 15 minutes of action to help secure a 1-0 win for Catholic.

The win finished Catholic's regular season with an 11-0-6 record and a 6-0-3 mark against Landmark opponents. This season marks the fourth straight regular season that the program has gone unbeaten in conference regular season play. In total, the Cardinals have gone 39 straight Landmark matches without a loss in the regular season and 28 straight regular season games without a loss, dating back to last season.

Elshani's goal made him the seventh Catholic player to record multiple goals this season. Shamoo's assist was his fifth of the season and he is now second on the team in points with 11. His five assists tie him for the ninth-most assists in a single-season in DIII program history. 

Allegro's shutout was his sixth of the season as well as the sixth consecutive shutout for the Cardinals to close out the regular season. He along with Shamoo, Graham Leary, Corey Magro, Aidan Brindle and Charlie Paparella played the full 90 minutes in the victory.

Catholic is locked into the two-seed in the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament and have earned a first round bye. The Cardinals will take on the winner of the No. 3/No. 6 matchup which involves Moravian and Lycoming. Catholic will host a semi-final match at Carlini Field on Wednesday, November 5 at 6 pm.