Caltech Men's Soccer produced outstanding results in 2024, posting an 8-7-3 record en route to achieving its highest win total in the past 54 years.
2024 was the second consecutive year in which fourth-year Head Coach Duncan Gillis and the Beavers broke the program record for wins in a season. The program carries a winning 14-13-7 record over that span. The Beavers have increased their year-to-year win total by at least two games in each season since Gillis' first in 2021.
Caltech got off to a torrid start in 2024, winning five of its first six games, allowing only three goals in that span. The stretch included four shutout victories, including a 1-0 thriller against Park (Ariz.) in the season opener. The Beavers also shutout Albion, 4-0, and Life Pacific, 5-0 during their hot start.
In addition to posting multiple shutouts defensively, the Beavers established themselves as an offensive juggernaut in 2024. The Institute immediately followed up on its dominance of Life Pacific by scoring five goals in the next match, a victory against Bethesda. Caltech scored five goals thrice and tallied at least four goals five times last season. Two of those contests came in prime-time conference road matches starting with a 4-1 thrashing of La Verne Sept. 28 for Caltech's first win of the conference season and ending with a 5-0 shutout of Cal Lutheran under the lights in Thousand Oaks to end the year.
In terms of individual performances, Junior midfielder Etienne Casanova (Saratoga Calif. / Saratoga High School) stood out from the pack, leading the team with career-highs in goals (12) assists (11) and points (35). In fact, his accomplishments were sufficient to earn him the 2025 Caltech Athlete of the Year at the 2025 Caltech Student-Athlete Celebration. Casanova's 11 assists led SCIAC, and he tallied multiple goals in a match on four occasions, all of them victories. He achieved a remarkable six points in a match twice, first against Albion (Ariz.) Sept. 1 and again at Cal Lutheran Nov. 2. Casanova provided the game winner in half of Caltech's victories in 2024.
Casanova's remarkable season earned him his fourth-consecutive All-SCIAC First Team honors. Junior foward and Casanova's fellow Saratoga native, Ishaan Mantripragada (Harker School) also played his way onto the All-SCIAC First Team with nine goals.
On the goalkeeping side, six-foot sophomore Ethan Hammel (Portola Valley, Calif. / Woodside) led the Beavers with 70 saves and five wins on the year. He earned five of the Beavers' eight wins. Fellow sophomore Alex Crawley (Atlanta, Ga. / Paideia) led the squad with an .852 save percentage and 0.91 goals-against-average, both career bests.
With a plethora of talented underclassmen mixed in with their veteran leadership, Caltech will look to continue its historic rise next season. The official 2025 season schedule will be released this summer.
Follow Caltech Men's Soccer on Instagram and follow Caltech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
