Box Score
WASHINGTON, D.C.  – The Catholic men's soccer team capped the Turk Emekli Classic on Sunday afternoon in a match against Mount Saint Mary, looking to complete a 2-0 start to the season. The Cardinals dominated the match from start to finish, putting up four first half goals to help cruise to a 5-0 win over the Knights. 

After generating a few solid chances early in the contest, Donik Elshani opened the scoring in the 18th minute after Charlie Paparella won the ball high up the field and laid it off to Elshani on the left side of goal inside the 18-yard box. Elshani ripped a shot in the back of the net to put the Cardinals on the board with a 1-0 lead. 

The early blitz continued just two minutes later as in the 20th minute, freshman Kaleb Wilburn took a shot that was blocked by the Mount Saint Mary goalkeeper, but Carson Shamoo was there to collect the rebound and also found the goal on the rebound to quickly double the Catholic lead.

Sophomore Hamin Oladokun added a third goal for the Cardinals in the 32nd minute, the first of his career. Wilburn collected a pass from Alessandro Marquez Zeleya, and sent it directly to Oladokun who was ready at the top of the box. He took one touch to send the ball to the top of the net with Wilburn earning the assist.

With less than five minutes on the clock in the half, Marquez Zeleya received a pass from Ryan Kuegler inside the penalty area and fired a shot that was deflected into the back of the net to Catholic a resounding 4-0 lead heading into the halftime break.

Trevor Grice made the start in goal, the second of his career. He previously started in his sophomore season against NC Wesleyan, where made a career-high seven saves. He logged two saves against Mount Saint Mary and helped the Cardinals record back-to-back clean sheets to start the season.

Jorge Gonzalez-Tello made his collegiate debut for the Cardinals, and within minutes scored his first career goal, the fifth for the Cardinals to put the final dagger in the Knights. Two other Cardinals made their collegiate debut in the second half against the Knights: William Brown and Eli Knight. The Knights generated five shots in total in the second half, two of which were on target but could not crack the scoreboard and Catholic secured a 5-0 win to advance to 2-0 on the young season.

Inside the Box Score

• The five goals scored by the Cardinals were the most scored in the Connor Keenan era as head coach and the most by a Catholic team since they scored six against Goucher in 2023. Nine goals in the first two games is the most goals scored by a Catholic team in the first two games of the season since at least 1998.
• Catholic wrapped up a second clean sheet in its first two matches, making it the first time since 2016 the program has shut out its first two opponents in a season.
• Shamoo notched his second goal of the season, making him the first player to reach multiple goals in the 2026 campaign and the Cardinals have already had eight different goal scores of the nine goals scored thus far. 

Next, the Cardinals hit the road for a series of away matchups. Catholic will take on St. Mary's (Md.) on Wednesday, September 9th in St. Mary's City, MD. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. in Jamie L. Roberts Stadium.