Marco Carducci

Marco Carducci

Carducci in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Marco Christian Carducci
Date of birth	(1996-09-24) September 24, 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Cavalry FC
Number	1
Youth career
2000–2005	MSB United
2005–2006	MacKenzie FC
2006–2011	Calgary Villains
2011–2014	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2014	Vancouver Whitecaps U-23	6	(0)
2014–2016	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	0	(0)
2015–2016	→ Whitecaps FC 2 (loan)	16	(0)
2017	Rio Grande Valley FC Toros	6	(0)
2018	Calgary Foothills	10	(0)
2019–	Cavalry FC	113	(0)
International career‡
2012–2013	Canada U17	8	(0)
2014–2015	Canada U20	5	(0)
2016	Canada U23	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 18, 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of March 29, 2017

Marco Christian Carducci (born September 24, 1996) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC and Canada national team.

Club career

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Carducci signed his first professional contract with Major League Soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps FC on March 4, 2014. ^[1] He made his debut on May 7, 2014, in a Canadian Championship fixture against Toronto FC, which Vancouver lost 2–1. ^[2] After three seasons with the Whitecaps, two of which were on loan to their reserve club Whitecaps FC 2, the Whitecaps announced that Carducci would not return for the 2017 season. ^[3]

Rio Grande Valley FC Toros

Carducci signed with USL side Rio Grande Valley FC Toros in March 2017. ^[4]

Calgary Foothills

In February 2018, Carducci would turn down multiple offers from USL clubs to sign with Premier Development League club Calgary Foothills FC, serving as a goalkeeper coach in addition to playing duties. ^{[5] [6]} Carducci would help Calgary Foothills to the 2018 PDL Championship, winning the Golden Glove as well as being named to the 2018 PDL All-League Team. ^[7]

Cavalry FC

Carducci signed for Cavalry FC of the Canadian Premier League in December 2018. ^[8] Upon signing, he indicated his desire for playing time, and that his goal was to play for Canada in the 2026 World Cup with Canada as one of the three hosts. ^[9] In the 2019 Canadian Premier League season, the first season in league history, Cavalry began with a seven-game winning streak, with Carducci starting in each, picking up four clean sheets in the process. The streak finally came to an end on June 22, with a 1–0 defeat against Forge FC. ^[10] Cavalry also saw success in the Canadian Championship, becoming the first Canadian Premier League side to defeat MLS opposition as they defeated the struggling Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–1 on aggregate in the quarterfinals. Carducci was instrumental in this victory, posting a clean sheet in the first leg and only conceding one goal in the second against his former club. ^[11] In the semi-finals, however, they were knocked out of the tournament at the hands of the Montreal Impact. ^[12] Carducci backstopped Cavalry to both the spring and fall championships and a berth to the 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals, where they faced Forge. In the first leg, Carducci was widely praised for his performance as he saved a Tristan Borges penalty to keep the score at zero, ^[13] but Borges ended up scoring at the very end of the first half and the match ended at 1-0 for Forge. ^[14] In the second leg, Cavalry was unable to score, and during stoppage time, with all the Cavalry defenders in the attacking zone, Forge players Elimane Cissé and David Choinière ran the length of a field on a 2 on 0, and there was not much Carducci could do to stop it. Choinière scored, and Forge won the championship. ^[15] Despite losing the championship, Carducci had a good individual season, he finished with 9 clean sheets, tied with Triston Henry for the most in the league. ^[16] Carducci would win the CPL goalkeeper of the year for the 2019 season. ^[17]

Cavalry later confirmed that Carducci would return for the 2020 season. ^[18] In the shortened season Carducci finished with three clean sheets in nine games, as his team finished the season in third place. ^[19] He extended his contract for the 2021 ^[20] and 2022 seasons. ^[21]

In March 2022, Carducci would announce that he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer the prior month, and was recovery after having surgery to treat the issue shortly after. After serving as the team's backup for the first 3 games of the 2022 season, he would return to the net on May 1, 2022, posting a clean sheet against Pacific FC in his return. ^{[22] [23]} After his strong 2022 season with Cavalry, Carducci would win his second Golden Glove award. ^[24] In May 2023, Carducci would be the first player to make 100 appearances for Cavalry. ^[25]

International career

Carducci was born in Canada to a Canadian-Italian father and Uruguayan mother. ^{[26] [27]} He has represented Canada at various youth levels. He was on the Canadian team that went to the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup. ^[28] In May 2014, he was named to the Canadian U-20 team that would participate in the Milk Cup later that summer. ^[29] He played one game at the tournament, with his Vancouver Whitecaps compatriot Nolan Wirth playing the other two. Carducci would later participate again with the U20s in November, where he played two games against England and Russia in a 2–2 draw and a 2–1 victory, respectively.^{[ citation needed ]}

In May 2016, Carducci was called to Canada's U23 national team for a pair of friendlies against Guyana and Grenada. ^[30] Carducci started the second match against Grenada, posting the clean sheet ^[31]

On August 28, 2019, Carducci was called up to the Canada men's national soccer team for a pair of CONCACAF Nations League matches against Cuba, his first call up as well as the first call up for any Canadian Premier League player. ^[32]

Career statistics

As of May 21, 2024 ^[33]

Club	League	Season	League		Playoffs		Cup		Continental		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Major League Soccer	2014	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
Whitecaps FC 2 (loan)	USL	2015	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
		2016	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
	Total		16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	0
Rio Grande Valley FC Toros	USL	2017	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Calgary Foothills	Premier Development League	2018	10	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	14	0
Cavalry FC	Canadian Premier League	2019	23	0	2	0	4	0	0	0	29	0
		2020	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
		2021	24	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	26	0
		2022	24	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	28	0
		2023	28	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	32	0
		2024	5	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	10	0
	Total		113	0	8	0	11	0	2	0	134	0
Career total			145	0	12	0	13	0	2	0	172	0

Honours

Club

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

• Canadian Championship: 2015

Calgary Foothills

• PDL Championship: 2018

Calvary FC

• Canadian Premier League Finals runners-up: 2019
• Canadian Premier League (Regular season) Champions: Spring 2019, Fall 2019, 2023

Individual

• CPL Goalkeeper of the Year: 2019, 2022
• PDL Goalkeeper of the Year: 2018
• Canadian U-17 Player of the Year: 2012, 2013
• Canadian Premier League Volkswagen Premier Performer: 2019

References

1. "Vancouver Whitecaps sign 17-year-old Marco Carducci – CBC Sports – Soccer". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
2. Armen Bedakian. "MatchCenter – Toronto FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC". Matchcenter.mlssoccer.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
3. Farhan Devji (December 8, 2016). "'The door is always open:' Carducci, 'Caps mutually agree to part ways – for now". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
4. "RGV FC TOROS ANNOUNCE 2017 ROSTER". March 23, 2017.
5. @FoothillsSoccer (February 6, 2018). "Now GK Coach and player with Foothills Welcome to the family@mcarducci96" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
6. Stuart Gradon (March 14, 2018). "Marco Carducci comes home to play for Calgary Foothills FC and prepare for the future". Total Soccer Project.
7. Colton Coreschi (August 2, 2018). "2018 PDL All-League Team and Awards". USL PDL.
8. "Cavalry FC sign four young local talents". December 12, 2018.
9. Armen Badakian (December 14, 2018). "Cavalry's Carducci 'right there' with the best of his generation ahead of CPL's inaugural season". Canadian Premier League.
10. "'One game doesn't define us': Wheeldon Jr. shakes off Cavs' 1st loss". Canadian Premier League. June 22, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
11. "Cavalry bounce Whitecaps from Canadian Championship - Sportsnet.ca". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
12. "Impact down Cavalry to advance to Canadian Championship final - Sportsnet.ca". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
13. "Canadian soccer Twitter reacts to a wild Leg 1 in Finals 2019". Canadian Premier League. October 26, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
14. "Forge FC edges Cavalry FC in wild first leg of CPL final - Sportsnet.ca". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
15. "Forge FC defeat Cavalry FC to win first Canadian Premier League title - Sportsnet.ca". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
16. "League Leaders". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
17. John Molinaro (November 26, 2019). "Cavalry FC goalkeeper Marco Carducci takes home Golden Glove honour". Canadian Premier League.
18. "A strong core confirmed for Cavalry FC in 2020". Cavalry FC. November 13, 2019. Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
19. "Canadian Premier League". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
20. "Cavalry FC secure the core for the 2021 Canadian Premier League Season". Cavalry FC. November 6, 2020.
21. "Cavalry FC Secures Key Core Pieces for 2022 Canadian Premier League Season". Cavalry FC. January 21, 2022.
22. "Cavalry FC goalkeeper Marco Carducci details recovery from testicular cancer". Global Calgary. March 21, 2022.
23. Cami Kepke (May 2, 2022). "Calgary's Marco Carducci posts shutout in return to Cavalry FC after cancer battle". Global Calgary.
24. Tierney, Mitchell (October 28, 2022). "Cavalry FC's Marco Carducci wins 2022 Canadian Premier League Golden Glove". Canadian Premier League .
25. Todd Saelhof (May 27, 2023). "Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci hits Game 100 of home-team career". Calgary Sun.
26. "Cavalry FC goalkeeper Marco Carducci worth cheering for | Calgary Sun".
27. "Profile - Canada Soccer". January 28, 2020.
28. "Canada selects 21 for the FIFA U-17 World Cup UAE 2013". October 3, 2013. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
29. "Canada M20 heads to 2014 Dale Farm Milk Cup". July 23, 2014. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
30. Canada Soccer Association. "Canada announces roster for Caribbean tour". Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
31. Canada Soccer Association. "Canada m23 defeat Guyana as part of Jubilee celebration". Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
32. "Cavalry's Carducci becomes 1st CPL player to earn Canada call-up". Canadian Premier League. August 28, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
33. Marco Carducci at Soccerway

External links

• Marco Carducci at the Canadian Soccer Association
• Marco Carducci at Major League Soccer
• Marco Carducci at Soccerway