Lycoming College

The MAC Commonwealth Tournament MVP of the Lycoming College men's soccer team's first conference championship in 2013, Connor Keenan '15 set a high standard for Lycoming goalkeepers to follow.
 
A two-time All-MAC Commonwealth selection that earned honorable mention accolades in 2013 before becoming a first team pick in 2014, the Exton, Pa., native also earned First Team NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region honors as a senior, when he set school single-season records for shutouts (11) and goals-against average (0.69). His 14 wins were tied for third in school history and his .831 save percentage was eighth. The Exton, Pa., native also set the school's career shutouts mark during the season, as he finished his career with 21, and he earned two Commonwealth Conference Defensive Player of the Week awards. He also helped the team start the year with a school-record 692 consecutive scoreless minutes, as the Warriors were the last team in Division III to allow a goal.
 
Keenan stopped all 16 shots that came near his net in a 326-minute span in the Commonwealth Conference Tournament in 2013, helping the Warriors to the first conference title in school history. 
The road to the Warriors' first conference championship couldn't have been more difficult, but the Warriors, led by Keenan, held three opponents scoreless for a string of 336 minutes in the conference tournament, starting with a 1-0 double-overtime win against Lebanon Valley on Monday, Nov. 4, where he made eight saves. Two days later, he helped the Warriors down No. 1-seed and seven-time defending conference champion Messiah after a 0-0 double-overtime tie by watching three kicks go wide in a 5-4 penalty-kick shootout win. He posted seven saves to lead the Warriors during regulation. In the championship match against Elizabethtown, Keenan notched his seventh shutout of the season en route to the shootout, which they won, 5-3. He came up with a save on the second Elizabethtown shot of the shootout and then connected with the team's fourth goal, leaving the Warriors one shot from the title. He followed that with a 1-0 win over King's in the NCAA Championship First Round for a string of 548 consecutive scoreless minutes.
 
Keenan earned four Commonwealth Conference Defensive Player of the Week awards and he is still fourth in school history in goals against average (1.09), fifth in wins (29) and sixth in saves (228).
 
A 2013 NSCAA Honorable Mention Scholar All-East Region and Academic All-MAC honoree, the three-time MAC Academic Honor Roll selection was a criminal justice major.
 
Keenan, who earned a Master's degree in Leadership and Management from Catholic University in 2018, has served as a soccer coach since his graduation from Lycoming in 2014. His career started as an assistant for two years at Lycoming College (2015-16) while also working as a corrections officer at the Lycoming County prison. The Warriors won their second MAC Commonwealth title in 2015 and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.
 
He then served as an assistant coach at the Catholic University of America from 2016-19, helping the Cardinals to a Landmark Conference title in 2019 and earning a share of the Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year. He followed that by working as an assistant men's soccer coach at Denison University from 2020-22, helping the team to a NCAC title in 2021 and earning a piece of the United Soccer Coaches Region VII Coaching Staff of the Year award.
 
He took his first head coaching job at King's College in 2023 and returned to Catholic in 2024 as head coach, leading the team to a Landmark Conference title in his first year.
 
Nominated by: Joe Guistina, Associate Director of Athletics