Men's Soccer | 11/16/2023 9:15:24 AM
The Empire 8 Conference is celebrating the league’s 25th Anniversary season in 2023-24, honoring student-athletes, teams, coaches and administrators who have played a key role in the league’s success over the last 25 years. Empire 8 Men’s Soccer is no exception, as several individuals and teams have excelled at the conference, national and regional levels.
Ithaca College was awarded the first E8 Men’s Soccer Championship in 1999 as the top team in the regular season, followed by RIT, who won four of the next six league titles. In 2002, the league held its first Empire 8 Championship Tournament to crown a league championship, as Ithaca claimed its second title. Stevens joined the league in 2007 and immediately excelled, winning nine straight titles and 11 overall in its 12 seasons as an E8 member. Overall, eight different institutions have claimed E8 titles, as Nazareth University has won five Empire 8 Championships, while Ithaca has three titles, Alfred University and St. John Fisher two titles and most recently, Medaille University (2022) Elmira College (2023) were league champions.
RIT’s Mike Lawson was an Empire 8 Rookie of the Year in 2002 and was the league’s first two-time Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005. Nolan Sandberg of Stevens was also a back-to-back Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010. Sandberg was also a D3Soccer First Team All-American in 2010. Overall, 15 different student-athletes have earned All-E8 first team honors three times, most recently Justin Bonetto of St. John Fisher.
In 2022, Medaille forward Ander Castillo set single-season league records with 23 goals and 49 points en route to earning United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-American honors. Terrance Johnson of Stevens is the Empire 8’s all-time scoring leader with 42 goals and 99 career points, having played from 2007-2009. Johnson’s teammate, Zach Carr, finished his career with a 68-9-12 record in net to go along with a 0.398 goals against average and 55 shutouts from 2007-10 to rewrite the league’s record book.
Former Ithaca head coach Andy Byrne holds the E8 record with 138 coaching wins in addition to three Empire 8 titles. Stevens Institute of Technology head coaches Tim O’Donohue, Devin Rensing and Dale Jordan combined for 195 wins, an .807 winning percentage and 11 E8 titles from 2007-2018. Rensing won five straight league titles from 2011-15. RIT head coach Bill Garno led the Tigers to four Empire 8 titles in a six year span (2000, 2001, 2004, 2005). Most recently, Matt Tantalo led Nazareth to titles in 2019 and 2021 and is a three-time E8 Coach of the Year.
In 2008, Stevens made a magical run to the NCAA National Championship game, where the game ended in a tie after 110 minutes of play, but Messiah was awarded the title after winning in penalty kicks. Nazareth advanced to the NCAA National Quarterfinal game in 2006, while Stevens also was a National Quarterfinalist in 2011.
Below we are honoring members of the Empire 8 Men’s Soccer 25th Anniversary Team. Recipients were chosen by the league office and were named either a Player of the Year, All-American or earned All-Empire 8 first team honors at least three times in their collegiate careers.
Empire 8 Men’s Soccer 25th Anniversary Team
Nick Accomando, D, Ithaca
Jake Adams, M, Nazareth
Zach Adler, M/F, Stevens
Mohammed Ahamed, D, Nazareth
Daniel Aversano, F, Stevens
Justin Bonetto, M, St. John Fisher
Michael Bryant, F, Elmira
Zach Carr, GK, Stevens
Leonardo Casas, D, Stevens
Ander Castillo, F, Medaille
Jefferson Dargout, F, Nazareth
Victor Daza, F, Stevens
Evan Dufault, F, Utica
Steven Dunbar, F, Stevens
Steve Fisher, F, Nazareth
Martin Harguindey, M/F, Elmira
Zeke Hemme, D, Stevens
Terrance Johnson, F, Stevens
Harrison Kane, D, Stevens
Paul Killian, GK, Stevens
Sory Konate, M, Utica
Mike Lawson, M, RIT
Luke Lennox, F, St. John Fisher
Brian Lenzo, GK, RIT
Kurt Odenbach, F, Ithaca
Cody Ostrum, M, RIT
Patrick Ouckama, D, Ithaca
Colin Phillips, M, Stevens
Carson Pryor, F, Stevens
Nolan Sandberg, M, Stevens
River Seybolt, F, Russell Sage
Jared Toth, M, Houghton
Jesse Toth, D, Houghton
Brian Wilkin, GK, Nazareth
Founded in 1999, the Empire 8 has developed into one of the premier NCAA Division III athletic conferences, both on the field and in the classroom. The conference has created and implemented innovative and groundbreaking sportsmanship programming over this time, many of our which have received great publicity, including features in USA Today, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The NCAA News, and various athletic profession publications. The Empire 8 has also been highly influential in helping to shape the Division III landscape, passing many legislative proposals along with individuals who hold leadership roles at the national level.
Feature stories and series’ celebrating the league’s 25th anniversary will be highlighted on the conference's website and social media platforms throughout the 2023-24 season, starting in September. The conference will also be using the #E825 and #E8Anniversary hashtags on its Twitter and Instagram platforms as a way for fans to follow along throughout the year.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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