Casanova Earns First Team Academic All-America Honors

Junior Etienne Casanova (Saratoga, Calif. / Saratoga) of Caltech Men’s Soccer received 2024 Division III First Team Academic All-America recognition on Tuesday, College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced via a press release.

Student-athletes earned the prestigious distinction for performing “at an elite level in their chosen sport and in the classroom.” Teams were voted on by CSC members within their respective divisions as well as CSC national staff and Academic All-America committees and directors.

Casanova and 125 other athletes across all divisions earned the title of Men’s Soccer Academic All-American among 1,992 total All-District honorees, who themselves are selected after meeting academic and athletic criteria. Casanova advanced to the CSC Men’s Soccer All-America ballot after collecting Academic All-District recognition this past November.

The Beaver is one of just 12 student-athletes in the country who received the Div. III Men’s Soccer First Team honor. He is the only player in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) who collected the First Team distinction.

The national award is much deserved for the Computer Science major, who nabbed a 3.91 grade-point average on a 4.00-scale while playing superb soccer this past season. The star finished 2024 with a team-high 12 goals to tie the program record for goals in a season — a record which had gone unmatched for 54 years. His 11 goals scored against official opponents this year landed him second among all players in the conference during the regular season, just one behind the SCIAC Men’s Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Year winner. Four of Casanova’s 12 goals were game-winners.

Perhaps even more notable was Casanova’s assist total, 11, which more than doubled the previous school record of five — a record he himself reached in 2023 to tie Mantripragada’s five from 2022. Casanova’s 10 assists against official opponents this season put him No. 1 among all players in the conference during the regular season, with no other player logging more than eight. His countable point total was a whopping 32, putting him again first in the conference.

The All-America award comes just a few days after Casanova received All-Region honors for the second consecutive year. In November, the star was recognized as one of the best players in the conference as he picked up First Team All-SCIAC distinction.

Other recent accomplishments for Casanova include an internship at SpaceX, where he worked on software used for the Starlink Direct-to-Cell Satellites. He additionally has done research on leveraging machine learning to detect misinformation on social media and has built two mobile applications to help create a safer, easier and more convenient flight environment for pilots.

Casanova will return to the pitch in 2025 as the Beaver embarks on his senior season.

For the full list of 2024 Academic All-America Men’s Soccer winners, click here.

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