Cavalry FC goalkeeper Marco Carducci details cancer diagnosis

Cavalry FC’s main goalkeeper, and one of the top netminders in the Canadian Premier League (CPL), Marco Carducci, has announced he has been diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Carducci made the announcement on social media Monday morning, saying he was diagnosed in mid-February and has been getting treatment since.

A personal update I’d like to share: pic.twitter.com/wxpVC07vTj

— Marco Carducci (@mcarducci96) March 21, 2022

“Within forty-eight hours I had been admitted, undergone a radical inguinal orchiectomy, and was discharged to recover at home,” he explained. “Thankfully, all initial testing indicates that the cancer was caught early and was contained. For that I am beyond fortunate.”

Carducci says he is grateful to have received his treatments so quickly and that he has started his rehab program to get him back out on the pitch as soon as possible.

In an interview with the Canadian Premier League he said testicular cancer is “more common than people think and it’s something that happens to young men.”

“It happens to men in our age range. And I think when I look across the league, everyone is around my age, in that category where it does happen.”

Carducci said the diagnosis was scary, “It hits you like a train.” But he had followed past advice from his family doctor to watch for anything unusual. And he had the right help.

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“I was in the best hands I could possibly be in. So I’m super- super-grateful for that,” he added in the interview. “But the message I really want to emphasize is get yourself checked.”

“For me, we’ll never know for sure but had I put it off longer and longer and just said ‘No it’s nothing. No, I’m fine. I want to keep playing’ it does get as big as life and death,” he added.

Cavalry FC’s go-to goalkeeper appeared in 26 games in 2021, recording seven shutouts and allowing 31 goals.

Carducci, who was born and raised in Calgary, has played three seasons with Cavalry and will look to make that four when the team heads back to the pitch this spring.

– With files from the Canadian Press