Men's Soccer | 11/7/2023 9:56:23 AM
The Empire 8 Conference announced its 2023 Men’s Soccer All-Conference awards on Tuesday, Nov. 7. The awards are voted on by the league's head coaches. Sophomore forward Martin Harguindey of 2023 Empire 8 Champion Elmira College was named the Player of the Year.
Harguindey has enjoyed a tremendous season for the Soaring Eagles, who won their first Empire 8 Championship in program history this season. He leads all Empire 8 student-athletes in scoring with 28 points on 13 goals and two assists has three game-winning goals. In league play. Harguindey had five goals and 12 points in eight games. He has also excelled in the postseason, scoring both Elmira goals in full time during the E8 Championship match. Harguindey joins Michael Bryant (2016) as the lone Elmira student-athletes to earn E8 Player of the Year honors.
Gavin Culley of Alfred University was the 2023 named Empire 8 Rookie of the Year. Culley, a forward, appeared in 18 games for the Saxons in 2023 and tallied 17 points on eight goals and an assist, while leading Alfred to a berth in the Empire 8 Semifinals. He had four goals and an assist in eight E8 regular season contests. Culley is Alfred’s third student-athlete to earn E8 Rookie of the Year accolades.
Junior Dante Gesamondo of Hartwick College was named the Goalkeeper of the Year. Gesamondo was second with both a 0.73 goals against average an .814 save percentage to go along with five solo shutouts. He excelled in league play, recording an .839 save percentage and 0.68 goals against average. Gesamondo was the E8 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 18. He is the first Hartwick student-athlete to earn this honor.
Balde was named the Doug May Coach of the Year after leading the Soaring Eagles to their first Empire 8 Championship in program history and first trip to the NCAA Tournament this season. Elmira also earned a share of the 2023 E8 Regular Season Championship and top seed in the Empire 8 Tournament. The Soaring Eagles went 5-0-3 in league play, out-scoring opponents, 12-2. He coached five 2023 All-E8 selections. It is Balde’s first Coach of the Year honor and the second in Elmira program history (Jeremiah Kneeland, 2009).
The coaching award is named after May, who coached RIT from 1980 to 1996 and Nazareth from 1997 to 2003 before passing away in April 2004.
Hartwick had a league-high four first team members, while a pair of Elmira and Nazareth University student-athletes were honored. Overall, St. John Fisher had a league-high seven student-athletes earn All-E8 honors, while Hartwick had six and Elmira, five. Six student-athletes earned All-E8 first team accolades for the second time.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2023 E8 Men's Soccer Sportsman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
2023 Empire 8 Men’s Soccer All-Conference Selections
Player of the Year: Martin Harguindey, So., F, Elmira
Goalkeeper of the Year: Dante Gesamondo, Jr., GK, Hartwick
Rookie of the Year: Gavin Culley, Fr., F, Alfred
Doug May Coach of the Year: Lamine Balde, Elmira
Empire 8 First Team
Gavin Culley, Fr., F, Alfred
Martin Harguindey, So., F, Elmira
Drew Decker, Jr., F, Nazareth
Byamungu Mugushu, Sr., F, Utica
Sean Burke, Jr., M, Hartwick
Jim Mahony, Sr., M, Hartwick
Jake Pawlika, Jr., M, Nazareth
Kerfalla Toure, So., D, Elmira
Rodrigo Fernandez, Sr., D, Hartwick
Tim Brown, Sr., D, St. John Fisher
Dante Gesamondo, Jr., GK, Hartwick
Empire 8 Second Team
Andy Loomis, Sr., F, Houghton
Riley Rease, Jr., F, St. John Fisher
Joey Avallone, Sr., F, St. John Fisher
Chase Freeland, Sr., M, Alfred
Iann Dominic, So., M, Houghton
Jacob McGinnis, Jr., M, St. John Fisher
Cody Baker-Green, Sr., M, Utica
Konstantinos Triantafillou, Fr., D, Elmira
Matt Bamford, Sr., D, Nazareth
Ryan Brown, Sr., D, St. John Fisher
Carson Smith, So., GK, Keuka
Empire 8 Third Team
Xavier Bowman, Fr., F, Alfred
Mohamed Koroma, Jr., F, Elmira
El Hadji Iba Sy, Sr., F, Russell Sage
Jose Navea Corporan, Fr., M, Elmira
Michael Yates, Jr., M, Nazareth
John Locicero, Gr., M, Russell Sage
Reese Powers, So., M, St. John Fisher
Sai Baraka, Sr., D, Alfred
Thomas Herzog, Fr., D, Hartwick
Jose Moreno, Jr., D, Hartwick
Evan Smith, Fr., D, Utica
Jadon Schlierf, Sr., GK, St. John Fisher
Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year
William Moore, Jr., M, Alfred
Konstantinos Triantafillou, Fr., D, Elmira
Jace Reigel, Fr., D, Hartwick
Mason Cool, Jr., M, Houghton
Nico Leone, Sr., M, Keuka
Patrick Larkin, Sr., GK, Nazareth
David Adadjo, Jr., F, Russell Sage
Greg Ranieri, Sr., M/F, St. John Fisher
Austin McCarthy, Sr., D, Utica
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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