Women's Soccer | 11/22/2023 9:32:02 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 Women’s Soccer is no exception, as several individuals and teams have excelled at the conference, national and regional levels.
Nazareth University was awarded the first E8 Women’s Soccer Championship in 1999 as the top team in the regular season. The Golden Flyers held a share of or won outright the first eight league titles. Nazareth has also won the last three Empire 8 Championships and have a league-best 13 overall titles in 25 seasons of play. Ithaca earned a share of or won outright E8 titles seven times from 2002-09 and won 10 total league championships. Stevens joined the league in 2007 and won six titles in its 12 seasons as an E8 member. Overall, six different institutions have claimed E8 titles, as Hartwick College (2017), Utica University (2019) and Russell Sage College (Spring 2021) were also league champions.
Ithaca standout Rachael Palladino is the Empire 8’s lone three-time Player of the Year, earning the honor in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and was the E8 Rookie of the Year in 2009. She is also the lone three-time NSCAA/United Soccer Coaches three-time All-American, culminating with back-to-back first team accolades in 2011 and 2012. Raba Nassif of Stevens was a two-year NSCAA All-American (2015, 2016) and earned D3Soccer honors in 2017. Overall, six different student-athletes have earned All-E8 first team honors four times, including Palladino, Nassif, Katie Allardice of Elmira College, Ithaca’s Chelsey Feldman, Bridgette Barden of Stevens and most recently, Natalie Ricci of Russell Sage.
In 2002, Elmira forward Jennifer Tuttle set the single-season league record with 28 goals. Raba Nassif of Stevens holds the league standard with 19 assists in 2015 and in 2016 set the E8 single-season mark with 61 points on 23 goals and 15 assists. Nassif holds Empire 8 career records with 66 goals, 47 assists and 173 points, having played from 2013-2016. In goal, Nazareth’s Hillary Simon made an E8 record 404 saves from 2007-2010, while Ithaca’s Aimee Meacham won 56 games, including 53 by shutout with a 0.45 goals against average from 2004-2007.
Legendary Nazareth head coach Gail Mann holds the E8 record with 287 coaching wins in addition to 13 Empire 8 titles and six Coach of the Year awards. Ithaca head coach Mindy Quigg won 254 games in the Empire 8 with a league-best .742 winning percentage and won 10 league championships in addition to six Coach of the Year honors. Jeff Parker of Stevens was a five-time Empire 8 Champion, won 165 games and was a four-time E8 Coach of the Year. Brian Knapp of Hartwick, Jill McCabe of St. John Fisher and Tom Natalie of RIT have won two E8 Coach of the Year awards apiece.
In 2011, Ithaca advanced to the NCAA National Semifinals. In addition, the Bombers were NCAA National Quarterfinalists in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2013. Nazareth made the NCAA Round of 16 in both 1999 and 2014, while Stevens did the same in 2015.
Below we are honoring members of the Empire 8 Women’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 Women’s Soccer 25th Anniversary Team
Katie Allardice, D/M, Elmira
Bridgette Barden, M, Stevens
Lauren Begy, D, Nazareth
Mikayla Blumenstock, F, Utica
Heidi Brown, D, Nazareth
Caleigh Cahoon, M, Nazareth
Tyler Carr, D, Nazareth
Aimee Chimera, D, Ithaca
Erica Conte, M, Nazareth
Beth Coppolecchia, GK, Ithaca
Kristina Cristofori, M, Nazareth
Rachel Cushman, F, Nazareth
Erin DiMarco, D, Ithaca
Brayden Dobles, GK, Nazareth
Stephany Ellison, F, Houghton
Chelsey Feldman, F, Ithaca
Anna Gray, D, Ithaca
Bella Guarracino, D, St. John Fisher
Andrea Janda, D, Ithaca
Kelsey King, F, Ithaca
Carli Kovarik, F, St. John Fisher
Laura Mallia, M, Nazareth
Hannah Miller, GK, Nazareth
Madison Miller, D, Hartwick
Reba Nassif, F, Stevens
Melanie Northrup, M, Nazareth
Tatum Overton, M/F, Nazareth
Mallory Ott, D, Nazareth
Grace Palczewski, D, Nazareth
Rachael Palladino, F, Ithaca
Julia Panko, M, Stevens
Natalie Ricci, F, Russell Sage
Nikki Rice, D, Ithaca
Becca Salant, GK, Ithaca
Amy Scheffer, M, Ithaca
Hillary Simon, GK, Nazareth
Jamie Snyder, F, Nazareth
Amanda Sudore, D, Nazareth
Jennifer Tuttle, F, Elmira
Courtney Velho, D, Hartwick
Ashley Williams, D, Ithaca
Julie Winn, M, Ithaca
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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