Men's Soccer Catholic Athletic Communications

Woodings Overtime Penalty Goal Sends Cardinals to NCAA Second Round

CORTLAND, N.Y.  — The Catholic men's soccer team hit the road on Saturday afternoon for the First Round of the NCAA Tournament to take on the defending national champions, Amherst, at Cortland. After a hard fought battle brought the match into extra time scoreless, the Cardinals received a penalty kick in the final minutes of the first overtime period, and Holden Woodings tucked a shot away into the bottom left corner to send Catholic into the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 victory. 

The opportunity came for the Cardinals after a ball was delivered on the right side of the 18-yard box by Charlie Paparella. After a centering pass in the penalty area, Christian Backich drew the penalty opportunity for Catholic to set up a chance at the game-clinching goal. Woodings confidently took the chance to convert on his second PK of the season.

Amherst outshot Catholic 7-2 in the opening 45 minutes, but Owen Allegro was able to make two key saves to keep the Mammoths off the scoreboard. The Cardinals had a chance with Seth Michalak inside the penalty area in the opening 10 minutes but were unable to get a shot on target. The score went into halftime all knotted, 0-0.

The Cardinals created two chances on target in the second half, one from Donik Elshani and the other coming from Woodings, both of which were saved by Trey Sheppard. An opportunity was created for Ben Zimmer on a counterattack in the last two minutes, but the shot just narrowly missed in the top right corner.

Woodings' goal was his 10th of the season, making it six consecutive seasons where a Catholic player has scored 10 or more goals. It was also his 25th career goal, making him just one goal shy of moving into a tie for sixth place in career goals in DIII program history. 

Allegro picked up another clean sheet, bringing his season total to eight, which is tied for the second-most in a single season in DIII program history. He continues to hold the lowest goals against average in DIII program history at 0.48. He, along with Graham Leary, Carson Shamoo, Ellington Andrews, Corey Magro, Paparella, and Zimmer, played the full 97 minutes in the shutout win.

The win marks the program's fourth-ever victory in the NCAA Tournament, and it is the first time the team has advanced past the First Round since 2022, when they went to the Sweet 16. Head Coach Connor Keenan also earned his first career win in the NCAA Tournament. 

The Cardinals remain unbeaten on the season with a 14-0-6 record. The 14 wins are the most the program has had in a season since winning 18 games in 2019.

The Cardinals are back in action on Sunday, November 16, for the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament as they will take on the hosts of the regional, Cortland. The Red Dragons earned a 1-0 victory in overtime against SUNY Delhi today to advance in the tournament. Kickoff is set for 3 pm at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex.