In Omar Gallo’s 10th season as the program’s head coach, Holy Cross men’s soccer faced an up-and-down season last fall. The Saints finished 6-9-3 overall, playing below .500 for the first full season since 2019. Holy Cross also posted a 4-5-2 mark in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play, narrowly missing the league’s postseason tournament.
Starting the season strong, the Saints ended August with back-to-back victories via clean sheets on the road. Overall, Holy Cross held its own away from home, securing four wins in opposing territory. But the Saints didn’t protect their own facility quite as well, going 2-3-2 at home.
A bumpy month of September followed the Saints’ 2-1 start in August, as Holy Cross went 2-5-2 across the season’s first full month. That cold stretch, however, included a big, 2-1 win over Governors State University on home field. Governors State would go on to finish second in the CCAC standings, with the Saints handing the Jaguars one of their two losses in league play.
In October, the Saints made a late push for the conference tournament, winning two of their last four games. A defeat of Trinity Christian could have snuck Holy Cross into the bracket, but the Trolls scored a late goal to ensure the Saints would finish in ninth place.
Junior forward Isaac Filippo emerged as the Saints’ leading scorer, taking a massive step forward from his 2022 season. After posting just three points in two starts during that campaign, he tallied 21 points on eight goals and five assists in 18 starts this year. Filippo collected two braces in 2023, including one in the first half of the Governors State game.
Junior forwards Juan Perez and Kevin Vidana also finished the season north of 10 points. Perez claimed 13, slotting in six goals on just 23 shot attempts. Meanwhile, Vidana posted 12 points on five goals in his 16 starts on the season. Perez and Vidana each played a significant role in the Saints’ playoff push this past season, combining to tally seven goals in the month of October alone.
In the midfield, juniors Isa Sayeed and Archimed Sabu, sophomore Tristan Alfaro and freshman Anthony Panayiotou each started at least a dozen games. Sayeed found the back of the net twice, also contributing a pair of assists. Senior Victor Sellu and junior Martin Von Thun held down the Holy Cross back line, starting a combined 33 games.
Between the posts, Holy Cross largely split time between its two goalkeepers. Sophomore Isaac Rubio saw the slight majority of action, making 11 starts and going 3-2-1 with a .705 save percentage. With a 1.34 goals against average, Rubio pitched three clean sheets. However, junior Armin Mahmutovic also started seven games, including four straight in the middle of September. He finished the year 3-6-1 with a .636 save percentage and 1.94 goals against average.
