Gianluca Catalano


Gianluca Catalano is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for the University of Connecticut. He was a member of the Toronto FC Academy.

Youth career

As a youth, he was a member of the TFC Academy. 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. 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.

NCAA career

In 2018, he accepted a scholarship to play for NCAA Division 1 University of Connecticut. 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. On February 24, 2020, he was named to the NCAA All-Canadian 1st Team.

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. He went on to play a total of 5 USL Championship games, including 4 starts, prior to joining UConn.
In the spring of 2019, he joined AC Connecticut of the USL League Two making 66 saves in 9 games and was named the number two goalkeeping prospect as part of the league's Top 20 Under 20. 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.

Career statistics