Gianluca Catalano

Gianluca Catalano (born May 6, 2000) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for the University of Connecticut. He was a member of the Toronto FC Academy.

Gianluca Catalano
Personal information
Date of birth (2000-05-06) May 6, 2000
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Kleinburg Nobleton SC
2012–2018 Toronto FC
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018– Connecticut 19 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Toronto FC III 28 (0)
2018 Toronto FC II 5 (0)
2019 AC Connecticut 9 (0)
National team‡
2017 Canada U17 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of June 23, 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:41, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

Youth career

As a youth, he was a member of the TFC Academy.[1] He was 14 years old when he made his debut in the Canadian youth program in 2014, at an identification camp. He represented Canada at the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Panama and has represented Canada at the U15, U16, U17 and U18 level. He has also represented Toronto FC at multiple youth international soccer tournaments in France, Mexico, USA, and at the world famous Torneo di Viareggio in Italy, where he helped the TFC Academy to a 1-1 draw against the Juventus Academy.[2] He later helped them defeat Juventus saving the final shot in a penalty shootout in the championship finals to win the 2017 International Youth Soccer Cup.[3]

NCAA career

In 2018, he accepted a scholarship to play for NCAA Division 1 University of Connecticut (UConn).[4] As a freshman, he started the season opener and won 2-1 vs Lehigh, advanced to the American Athletic Conference semi-finals, and lost to Indiana University in the 2nd round of the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, also known as the College Cup. As a sophomore in 2019, he was named Goalkeeper of the Week in October.[5] On February 24, 2020, he was named to the (FTF) NCAA All-Canadian 1st Team.[6]

Professional career

He began his career in the semi-professional League1 Ontario playing for Toronto FC III.

He made his fully professional league debut for Toronto FC II in the USL Championship as an academy call-up, on May 16, 2018 against Atlanta United 2.[7] He went on to play a total of 5 USL Championship games, including 4 starts, prior to joining UConn.[8]

In the spring of 2019, he joined AC Connecticut of the USL League Two (USL2) making 66 saves in 9 games[9] and was named the number two goalkeeping prospect as part of the league's Top 20 Under 20.[10] On November 20, 2019, he was nominated by the league for the 'Global Greats Series': Best Player from North America 2019, where he finished 3rd overall in voting.[11]

Career statistics
As of August 31, 2019[12]
Club League Season League Playoffs/League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Domestic Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Toronto FC III[13] League1 Ontario 2016 90?0—90
2017 170?0—170
2018 20?0—20
Total 280?0——280
Toronto FC II USL 2018 50——50
AC Connecticut[9] USL League Two 2019 90——90
Career Total 420?000420
  1. Includes League1 Ontario Cup matches.

References
  1. "Profile - Gianluca Catalano". Toronto FC. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  2. "Viareggio Cup Journal: Tournament Match Day 2". Toronto FC. March 15, 2017.
  3. Adam Krueger (August 21, 2017). "U-17s beat Juventus to capture International Youth Soccer Cup!". Toronto FC.
  4. Adam Krueger (February 7, 2018). "Signing Day 2018 Three academy players sign National Letter of Intent". Toronto FC. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  5. "American Athletic Conference Announces Weekly Men's Soccer Honors". American Athletic Conference. October 14, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  6. FTF Canada. "FTF NCAA All- Canadian Teams". Twitter.
  7. James Grossi (May 17, 2018). "Offensive explosion not enough for Toronto FC II as they lose by the odd goal in nine at Atlanta United 2". Waking The Red.
  8. "Gianluca Catalano". University of Connecticut.
  9. "Gianluca Catalano". USL League Two.
  10. "League Two 20 Under 20: Goalkeepers". USL League Two. October 2, 2019.
  11. "Global Greats: North America". USL League Two. November 20, 2019.
  12. Soccerway. "Gianluca Catalano profile".
  13. "TFCIII Statistics". League1 Ontario. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
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