TOWSON, Md. – The Catholic men's soccer team was picked to once again win the Landmark Conference in this season's preseason poll after coming away with the top spot, it was announced today. The Cardinals are coming off their third consecutive Landmark Conference championship, the first ever three-peat in conference history, and an unbeaten regular season, finishing 14-1-6 in 2025.
Connor Keenan returns for his third season at the helm of the program in 2026 after capturing a victory over Drew 1-0 in the Landmark championship last season. Seth Michalak scored the game-winning goal with less than six minutes to go in regulation to secure the victory. Catholic went on to notch its first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2022 against the defending national champions, Amherst, 1-0 in overtime before falling to Cortland 2-1 in the Second Round. The Cardinals have compiled a 24-7-11 record over Keenan's first two seasons.
Despite graduating its top goal scorer, Holden Woodings, the Cardinals return a strong core this season including three United Soccer Coaches (USC) All-region selections from last season. Carson Shamoo is coming off an impressive freshman campaign where he earned Landmark Rookie of the year honors with four goals and five assists, totaling 13 points which is the most of any returning player. Michalak scored the most goals out of the returners with six goals in 2025, including four game winners and Azaria Tewodros was also a key goal contributor last season with four goals and three assists.
The Cardinals retain a lot of impactful players in the backline this season including Owen Allegro in goal who is a three-time All-Landmark selection. Ellington Andrews, Graham Leary and Corey Magro return in the defense after the team allowed just 11 goals last season and had a goals against average of 0.56. Charlie Paparella is another all-region returner and will play key minutes for the Cardinals this season.
The Cardinals earned 79 points to earn the top spot in the preseason poll and also received seven of nine possible first place votes. Scranton finished second in the poll with 70 points and received two first place votes with Moravian coming in behind them with 64 points. Drew and Juniata rounded out the top five with 60 and 41 points respectively with the Rangers receiving the last first place vote.
Catholic opens the season on Friday, September 4 against John Carroll in the Turk Emekli Classic. The contest is slated to begin at 7 pm on Carlini Field.
| Team |
2024 Record |
Points (1st Place Votes) |
| 1. Catholic |
14-1-6 (6-0-3 LC) |
79 (7) |
| 2. Scranton |
13-1-6 (7-0-2 LC) |
70 (2) |
| 3. Moravian |
9-6-4 (5-1-3 LC) |
64 |
| 4. Drew |
11-6-3 (4-4-1 LC) |
60 (1) |
| 5. Juniata |
10-5-7 (2-3-4 LC) |
41 |
| 6. Lycoming |
7-7-5 (3-3-3 LC) |
40 |
| 7. Goucher |
9-8-3 (5-4 LC) |
36 |
| 8. Susquehanna |
5-10-3 (1-5-3 LC) |
30 |
| 9. Elizabethtown |
3-11-4 (0-6-3 LC) |
19 |
| 10. Wilkes |
1-13-4 (0-7-2 LC) |
9 |
