Men's Soccer | 11/12/2024 1:59:23 PM
The Empire 8 Conference announced its 2024 Men’s Soccer All-Conference awards on Tuesday, Nov. 12. The awards are voted on by the league's head coaches. League champion St. John Fisher University won three of the five individual honors and had a league-high seven student-athletes earn All-Empire 8 honors.
Fifth year forward Joey Avallone of St. John Fisher was named the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year. Avallone excelled in league play, recording six goals and four assists in 11 E8 contests. Three of his six goals were game-winning tallies. Overall, Avallone has 19 points on seven goals and five assists this season. Avallone joins Justin Bonetto and Luke Lennox as former E8 Player of the Year award recipients.
Senior Joe Vogt of SUNY Geneseo was named the inaugural Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year. Vogt was the leader of a stout Geneseo defense that allowed just six goals and 11 Empire 8 regular season games and 15 goals overall in 18 total games. The Knights recorded eight clean sheets in 2024. Vogt also added three goals on the season, with two of his tallies serving as game-winning markers.
Hunter Bulich of Hartwick College was the 2024 named Empire 8 Rookie of the Year. Bulich, a forward, appeared in 17 games for the Hawks in 2024 and tallied eight points on three goals and two assists, while helping lead Hartwick to a berth in the Empire 8 Semifinals. He had two goals and two assists in 10 E8 regular season contests. Bulich is Hartwick’s second student-athlete to earn E8 Rookie of the Year accolades.
Christian Burkhart of St. John Fisher was named the E8 Goalkeeper of the Year. Burkhart, who was also named the Empire 8 Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player, led the Empire 8 in all three major goalkeeping categories, including lowest goals against average (0.54), highest save percentage (.869) and most shutouts (13). Burkhart, who leads all of Division III in shutouts, has recorded six straight clean sheets entering the NCAA Tournament. Burkhart, a two-time E8 Defensive Player of the Week, is the second St. John Fisher student-athlete to earn this honor.
Burgasser was named the Doug May Coach of the Year after leading the Cardinals to their third Empire 8 Championship in program history and second trip to the NCAA Tournament this season. St. John Fisher won the 2024 E8 Regular Season Championship and earned top seed in the Empire 8 Tournament. The Cardinals went 8-1-2 in league play, out-scoring opponents, 21-4. He coached six 2024 All-E8 selections. It is Burgasser’s third Doug May Coach of the Year honor.
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.
St. John Fisher had a league-high four first team members, while three Nazareth University student-athletes and a pair of SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Poly standouts were honored. Overall, St. John Fisher had a league-high seven student-athletes earn All-E8 honors, while Hartwick had six and Elmira, five. The Nazareth duo of Drew Decker and Jake Pawlika each earned All-Empire 8 first team honors for the third time in their illustrious careers.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2024 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.
2024 Empire 8 Men’s Soccer All-Conference Selections
Offensive Player of the Year: Joey Avallone, Sr., F, St. John Fisher
Defensive Player of the Year: Joe Vogt, Sr., D, SUNY Geneseo
Goalkeeper of the Year: Christian Burkhart, Gr., GK, St. John Fisher
Rookie of the Year: Hunter Bulich, Fr., F, Hartwick
Doug May Coach of the Year: Jack Burgasser, St. John Fisher
Empire 8 First Team
Russ Domm, Sr., F, SUNY Brockport (East Rochester, NY/East Rochester)
Max Voyer, Jr., F, SUNY Brockport (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South)
Drew Decker, Sr., F, Nazareth (Clifton Park, NY/Christian Brothers Academy)
Jhonny Theze, Sr., F, SUNY Poly (Bronx, NY/Mohawk Valley)
Joey Avallone, Sr., F, St. John Fisher (Southampton, NY/Southampton)
Stefen Nikolic, Sr., M, SUNY Geneseo (Huntington, NY/Harborfields)
Jake Pawlika, Sr., M, Nazareth (Oneida, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill)
Thomas Nimineh, Sr., M, SUNY Poly (Syracuse, NY/Syracuse Central)
El Hadji Iba Sy, Gr., M, Russell Sage (Bronx, NY/Emma Lazarus)
Jacob McGinnis, Sr., M, St. John Fisher (Rochester, NY/Brighton)
Joe Vogt, Sr., D, SUNY Geneseo (Rochester, NY/Penfield)
Ryan Fitzgerald, Sr., D, Nazareth (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena)
Ryan Brown, Sr., D, St. John Fisher (Rochester, NY/McQuaid Jesuit)
Christian Burkhart, Gr., GK, St. John Fisher (Rochester, NY/Brighton)
Empire 8 Second Team
Justin Eaton, Gr., F, Alfred (Williamson, NY/Williamson)
Pietro Gallina, Jr., F, Elmira (Rome, Italy/Sant’Orsola)
Riley Rease, Sr., F, St. John Fisher (Nunda, NY/Keshequa)
Jack Tamburino, So., F, St. John Fisher (Rome, NY/Oriskany)
Rodrigo Perez, Jr., M, Alfred (Pelencia, Spain/IES Victorio Macho)
Jake Daly, Jr., M, Hartwick (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W. Baker)
Alejandro Aleo, Sr., M, Russell Sage (Alicante, Spain/Ira Macia Abela)
Alex Rivara, Jr., D, SUNY Brockport (Commack, NY/Commack)
Yannick Diaby, Fr., D, SUNY Poly (Abidjan, Ivory Coast/HIS Union Square)
Kevin Ryan, Sr., D, SUNY Poly (Ravena, NY/Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk)
Trevor Heschke, Sr., D, St. John Fisher (Newfane, NY/Newfane)
Dante Gesamondo, Sr., GK, Hartwick (Lynnfield, MA/Lynnfield)
Empire 8 Third Team
Xavier Bowman, So., F, Alfred (Hampstead, MD/Manchester Valley)
Kwame Amissah-Arthur, Jr., F, Hartwick (Federal Way, WA/Todd Beamer)
Hunter Bulich, Fr., F, Hartwick (Catskill, NY/Christian Brothers Academy)
Alex Kalivoda, Sr., F, Houghton (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Forks)
Noah Nassberg, Jr., F, Utica (Naples, FL/Gulf Coast)
Jhoan Chavez, Jr., M, Elmira (Miami, FL/Coral Reef)
Ali Shabani, Fr., M, SUNY Geneseo (Rochester, NY/Aquinas)
Vasion Sinjari, Sr., M, SUNY Geneseo (Rockville Centre, NY/South Side)
Alessandro Cerbara, Sr., M, Russell Sage (Rome, Italy/SS Lazio)
Cody Baker-Green, Gr., M, Utica (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley)
Anderson Velazquez, Gr., M, Utica (Norwood, NY/Marble Hill)
Khadim Amar, Fr., D, SUNY Brockport (New York, NY)
Giovanni Cardova, Sr., D, SUNY Brockport (Montrose, NY/Hendrick Hudson)
Quentin Herrmann, Jr., D, Nazareth (Alexandria, VA/West Potomac)
Sam Romanosky, Jr., D, Nazareth (Endwell, NY/Maine-Endwell)
Logan Diebold, Fr., D, Russell Sage (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South)
Ryan Primus, Gr., GK, SUNY Poly (Goshen, NY/Goshen)
Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year
William Moore, Sr., D, Alfred (Stormville, NY/John Jay)
DJ Taylor, Gr., M, SUNY Brockport (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W/ Baker)
Acelino Medford, So., M, Elmira (Couva, Trinidad & Tobago/Club Sando)
Joe Vogt, Sr., D, SUNY Geneseo (Rochester, NY/Penfield)
Timmy McQueeney, Jr., M, Hartwick (Wading River, NY/Shoreham Wading River)
Aidan Fish, Sr., D, Houghton (Fairport, NY/Fairport)
Cory Gangemi, Sr., GK, Keuka (Marcellus, NY/Marcellus)
Michael Yates, Sr., M, Nazareth (Rockwall, TX/Shenendehowa)
Ernest Oppong Asare, So., D, SUNY Poly (Yonkers, NY/Academy for Software Engineering)
Mason Kievit, Sr., M, Russell Sage (LaGrange, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes)
Troy Jezioro, Sr., F, St. John Fisher (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East)
Gavin Baxter, Sr., M, Utica (Ellenville, NY/Ellenville)
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.
EMPIRE 8 SOCIAL MEDIA
YouTube –
Facebook –
Twitter –
Instagram