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The comparisons have always been inevitable. For his part, Kieran Walsh never did a whole lot to dissuade them, either.
It’s hard to look at the Long Island Express and Chaminade four-star class of 2026 goalie and not see, well, another former Express and Chaminade standout. It doesn’t hurt that both wear 44 for the Flyers, either. For a while now, the comparisons to Liam Entenmann, a two-time national champion and All-American at Notre Dame and a starter in the PLL as a rookie, have been front and center.
You’ll never guess who trains Walsh, either.
“My sister’s the same age as Liam and they went to the same driver’s ed school together,” Walsh said. “One day, she said, ‘here’s Liam’s number. He’s a goalie at Chaminade and committed to Notre Dame. He’s going to help get you to where you want to be.’ I first started training with him in sixth or seventh grade and we’ve had the greatest connection.”
Walsh Starts the Goalie Dominoes
It was fitting, then, that Walsh opted to follow his mentor’s footsteps to South Bend by becoming the first ’26 goalie to commit after Sept. 1. As early goalie commitments usually do, Walsh’s verbal set off a domino effect of stoppers flying off the board. Team 91 Long Island four-star goalie DJ Xavier (Rocky Point, N.Y.) verballed to Cornell shortly thereafter. Goalies like five-star Hunter Mezzatesta (Yorktown, N.Y. / Express North / Virginia), four-star Blake O’Callaghan (John Jay, N.Y. / Prime Time / Princeton), four-star Ford Smith (Briarwood Christian, Ala. / Thunder / Jacksonville), four-star Dylan Rappaport (St. Anthony’s, N.Y. / Long Island Express / Loyola), four-star Cam Lyden (New Canaan, Conn. / Eclipse / Michigan), among others, joined the ranks of the committed goalies shortly thereafter. Tanner Shimko (Delbarton, N.J. / Leading Edge / Johns Hopkins) and Garrett Held (Boys’ Latin, Md. / Crabs / Navy) were among the 2025 goalies who locked up spots early as 2026s after declaring that they will do a post-graduate year before heading off to their respective schools.
Walsh emerged as the No. 2 goalie in the class after a superb summer for Express. At 6-4, 180 pounds, he’s got the prototypical frame for an ACC goalie. Of course, his first post-commitment phone call was to his mentor, who emphatically agreed with his decision.
“I FaceTimed him and it was right before the PLL playoffs, and he was just jumping up and down because he was so happy,” Walsh said. “From the first time training with him in sixth or seventh grade, we’ve had the greatest connection, and he just said, ‘I’m going to help you get one percent better every time.”
It worked out just fine.
Mezzatesta Becomes Crown Jewel of Virginia’s Class
Hunter Mezzatesta didn’t need an introduction to anyone coming into the summer.
The unanimous top-ranked goalie in the country by all three recruiting sites, Mezzatesta’s been a major presence on the circuit for years. First, he played up with the Express North 2025s but always played in individual events as a 2026. He’s going to be a four-year starter at New York Section 1 powerhouse Yorktown, a school that’s produced its fair share of high-end goalies.
Big reputations bring big targets, though. Instead of sitting back and resting on his laurels, though, Mezzatesta saw an opportunity to prove why he was so highly-regarded, and he didn’t disappoint.
“Coming into the summer, I wanted to attack the summer and take over. I wanted to control the controllables,” Mezzatesta said. “If you can’t control it, don’t worry about it. It was my last year with the ’25s, and I’ve been with those guys my entire life. We wanted to make it a special summer.”
Big Things in Store in Charlottesville
When it came time for recruiting, Mezzatesta knew he’d have his fair share of options. Virginia got a helping hand from starting goalie and West Coast Starz product Matt Nunes, with whom Mezzatesta had formed a relationship with earlier in the year. Nunes offered Mezzatesta some helpful feedback, advice that Mezzatesta used to quickly make a decision to commit to the ‘Hoos.
“He just said, ‘take your time and don’t feel rushed,'” Mezzatesta said. “He told me that, ‘no matter where you go, you have to be happy about it.’ He was so happy for me for where I was and he wanted to give me everything he could from his prior experience and what he went through.”
To nobody’s surprise, Virginia added some superb players around Mezzatesta. Fellow top-5 prospects Ethan Bramoff (St. Anthony’s, N.Y. / Long Island Express) and Lucas Garcia (Brunswick, Conn. / Prime Time) also verballed to the ‘Hoos. Lars Tiffany also earned verbal commitments from No. 17 ’26 Tuck Gilbane (Noble & Greenough, Mass. / Laxachusetts) and No. 23 John Balsamo (Chaminade, N.Y. / Long Island Express), the latter of whom will head to Charlottesville as a 2027. That’s a huge boost for a player like Mezzatesta, who’s completely consumed with winning.
“I have a lot of hope for this class,” Mezzatesta said. “We have a bunch of great players coming in.”
Including an elite goalie.
Smith Headlines Jacksonville’s Class
It’s never been easy for Ford Smith to place himself in the best situations to develop his game.
The Thunder and Briarwood Christian (Ala.) goalie established himself as one of the top goalies in the class of 2026, but it definitely hasn’t been an easy process. He’s from Birmingham (Ala.), which is a two-and-a-half hour drive from Atlanta, where Thunder is based out of. There’s a time change involved, too, which means that getting to practice can wreak havoc on Smith’s internal body clock.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I take a lot of pride in being from a non-hotbed area,” Smith said. “With a 2 1/2 hour and the time change, I’ve felt bad when my mom had to be leaving at 4:15 in the morning to get to practice. I feel like being from a non-hotbed means more than if I came from a more traditional hotbed. There’s a small niche of players who have played Division I from Alabama, and I’m happy to be a part of that.”
He became a part of that by staying in the South with his commitment with a verbal to Jacksonville. The Dolphins boast one of the top young coaching staffs in the game, led by former standout goalie John Galloway. It wasn’t lost on Smith that he’d have a coach with plenty of familiarity with the position, which is a rarity in this day and age.
“The biggest draw for me was the coaching staff,” Smith said. “Coach Galloway is a legend and I’m super pumped to play for him. I remember watching in the pros and for Team USA. He pursued me in a way that got me excited, and I want to play for somebody that wants me to play for them.”
The South’s Lone NLF Program
The commitment also gave Smith an opportunity to reflect upon his unconventional journey. He’s quick to credit Thunder’s coaching staff for his development, and he’s ready to put on for the South yet again.
“I give the Thunder staff a lot of credit for my commitment,” Smith said. “The coaching is staff is second to none and Thunder has given me a ton of opportunities for exposure. I really do appreciate them a ton and they’ve given me so much more than I could ever ask for.”
O’Callaghan To Lock Down Princeton’s Cage
Like Ford Smith, Blake O’Callaghan knows what it’s like to have his future college coach be a fellow goalie. It definitely makes an impact. When O’Callaghan committed to Princeton, he knew he had a head coach who saw the game the way he does in Matt Madalon.
“It’s amazing to be able to talk goalie shop with the head coach,” O’Callaghan said. “He knows what it’s like to be a goalie. It’s really important for someone to know the importance of goalies on the team and to have a great understanding of the position.”
O’Callaghan, who will be a four-year starter at John Jay (N.Y.), knew he wanted a place with elite academics and the Tigers sat atop his list going into the summer. Those academics, coupled with Prime Time‘s steady pipeline to Princeton, gave O’Callaghan a good idea that Madalon’s program might be the one for him.
“I was so impressed on my visit,” O’Callaghan said. “Princeton really separates itself with the people and the athletes. It’s so beautiful, and the one thing that stuck out to me was that the coaches and the guys on the team couldn’t have been nicer and more accepting, and Prime Time guys have had great success at Princeton, so I just thought that I could be next.”
