Women's Soccer | 11/10/2026 10:00:00 AM
The Empire 8 Conference announced its 2026 Women’s Soccer All-Conference selections on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The awards are voted on by the league's head coaches.
Junior forward Emily Woolingham of St. John Fisher University was named the 2026 Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, while senior Amelia Breton of SUNY Brockport garnered her second consecutive Midfielder of the Year award. Abby Dorunda of St. John Fisher and Caitlyn Smithers of Nazareth University were named Co-Defenders of the Year, while Olivia Short of Houghton University was named the Empire 8 Goalkeeper of the Year. Nazareth first-year standout Savanna Biehler was named Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, while St. John Fisher’s coaching staff, led by head coach Molly Romano was named the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year.
Woolingham helped lead the Cardinals to a 10-1 record in league play and a 15-3 mark overall. Woolingham leads all Empire 8 student-athletes in scoring with 17 goals and 40 points this season, while tallying five game-winning goals. She was tremendous in E8 league play, recording 24 points on 10 goals and four assists in 11 conference games to tie for the league lead in scoring. Woolingham, who has 33 goals, 14 assists and 80 career points in three seasons, is the seventh E8 student-athlete to repeat as Offensive Player of the Year.
Breton was named Empire 8 Midfielder of the Year for the second straight year after an outstanding senior season in which she was second in the league with 16 goals and 34 points on 16 goals, while leading the E8 with seven game-winning tallies. In league play, Breton had 18 points on eight goals and two assists in just nine contests with four game-winners. Her standout two-way play also helped the Golden Eagles allow just nine goals in E8 regular season play this season. She has 39 goals and 85 points in her collegiate career.
Dorunda led a St. John Fisher defense that allowed just eight goals in 11 Empire 8 regular season games and 16 goals overall on the season. She added three assists on the season and was a leader of a team that tied a single-season program record with 15 victories. Dorunda is the second student-athlete from St. John Fisher to earn E8 Defensive Player of the Year.
Smithers was the leader of a stout Nazareth defense that surrendered just seven goals in 11 E8 regular season games and 14 goals in 19 games entering the NCAA Tournament, as the Golden Flyers won their first Empire 8 Championship since 2023. Smithers becomes the seventh Nazareth student-athlete to earn Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year accolades and first since 2021.
Short enjoyed a tremendous debut season in net for Houghton, recording a sensational 0.61 goals against average and an .880 save percentage with six shutouts in 10 league games for the Highlanders, who went 7-2-2 in E8 play, earned the No. 3 seed and advanced to the Empire 8 Semifinals. Overall, Short finished 11-6-1 in nearly 1,600 minutes of play with 80 saves and was part of 10 shutouts. She is the second Houghton student-athlete to earn Empire 8 Rookie of the Year honors.
Biehler enjoyed one of the best rookie seasons by a student-athlete in E8 history, helping lead Nazareth to the 2026 Empire 8 Championship and a 13-3-3 overall record entering the NCAA Tournament. Biehler has 14 goals, nine assists and 37 points in 19 games played to go along with five game-winning markers. She was tremendous in E8 league play, recording 24 points on 10 goals and four assists in 11 conference games to tie for the league lead in scoring. Biehler is the sixth Nazareth student-athlete to earn E8 Rookie of the Year honors.
Romano and assistant coaches Tim Schlesinger and Elena Sullivan led the Cardinals to the E8 regular season title, while earning the top seed in the league tournament. St. John Fisher went 10-1-0 in Empire 8 regular season play and 15-3-0 overall in 2026, while scoring a league-high 52 goals in 18 games. St. John Fisher, who tied a single-season program record with 15 wins, out-scored teams 34-8 in 11 E8 contests and 52-16 overall, with eight total shutouts. In addition, seven St. John Fisher student-athletes earned 2026 All-E8 honors. It is St. John Fisher’s third E8 Coaching Staff of the Year honor and second with Romano as head coach (2022).
Houghton University, Nazareth, and St. John Fisher each had a league-high three first team members, while two SUNY Geneseo, one SUNY Brockport and one Hartwick College student-athlete were honored. Overall, SUNY Geneseo had a league-high eight student-athletes earn All-E8 honors, while Nazareth and St. John Fisher had seven apiece. Breton garnered All-E8 first team accolades for the third straight season, while the Cardinals’ duo of Woolingham and Francesca Logrippo earned All-E8 first team honors for the second straight year.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2026 Women's Soccer Tomorrow’s Leaders Team. This team honors a student-athlete who has emerged as a leader not only on the field of play, but in the classroom and in the community. In addition, they “compete with honor and integrity” and have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen.
2026 Empire 8 Women’s Soccer All-Conference Selections
Offensive Player of the Year: Emily Woolingham, Jr., F, St. John Fisher
Midfielder of the Year: Amelia Breton, Sr., M, SUNY Brockport
Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Abby Dorunda, Jr., D, St. John Fisher
Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Caitlyn Smithers, Sr., D, Nazareth
Goalkeeper of the Year: Olivia Short, Fr., GK, Houghton
Rookie of the Year: Savanna Biehler, Fr., F, Nazareth
Coaching Staff of the Year: St. John Fisher, led by Head Coach Molly Romano
Empire 8 First Team
Ella Yartym, Jr., F, SUNY Geneseo (Bath, NY/Haverling)
Hope Russell, Jr., F, Houghton (Fillmore, NY/Fillmore)
Savanna Biehler, Fr., F, Nazareth (Fairport, NY/Fairport)
Emily Woolingham, Jr., F, St. John Fisher (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville East)
Amelia Breton, Sr., M, SUNY Brockport (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili)
Ella Grupe, So., M, Hartwick (Freehold, NY/Greenville)
Kiyomi Mastro, Sr., M, Nazareth (Westminster, MD/Winters Mills)
Francesca Logrippo, Sr., M, St. John Fisher (Latham, NY/Shaker)
Sarah Seeling, Jr., D, Houghton (Wellsboro, NY/Wellsboro)
Katelyn Dena, Sr., D, SUNY Geneseo (Wheatfield, NY/Niagara Wheatfield)
Caitlyn Smithers, Sr., D, Nazareth (Manlius, NY/Cazenovia)
Abby Dorunda, Jr., D, St. John Fisher (Westfield, MA/Wilbraham and Monson Academy)
Olivia Short, Fr., GK, Houghton (Avon, NY/Avon)
Empire 8 Second Team
Kaitlyn Spring, So., F, SUNY Brockport (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia)
Shannon Sgombick, Sr., F, Nazareth (Florida, NY/S.S. Seward Institute)
Olivia Kalil, Jr., F, St. John Fisher (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit Valley)
Maggie Zito, Fr., M, SUNY Geneseo (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa)
Taylor Curyto, Sr., M, Houghton (North Chili, NY/Churchville-Chili)
Gracelyn Williams, So., M, Houghton (Franklin, TN/Franklin)
Guliana Rodriguez, So., M, Nazareth (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas)
Carli Maltbie, Sr., M, St. John Fisher (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna)
Carly Chupick, Sr., D, SUNY Geneseo (Northport, NY/Northport)
Trinity Irizarry, Jr., D, Hartwick (Greenwood Lake, NY/Warwick Valley)
Lena Turaj, Sr., D, SUNY Brockport (Oswego, NY/Hannibal)
Cora Kraft, Sr., D, Utica (Poughquag, NY/Arlington)
Isabella Ayers, So., GK, St. John Fisher (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland)
Empire 8 Third Team
McKenna Slate, Jr., F, SUNY Brockport (Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse)
Brooke Wilcox, Fr., F, Elmira (Covington, PA/North Penn Mansfield)
Kate Pinto, Fr., F, SUNY Geneseo (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland)
Bailey Hewson, So. F, Utica (Plattsburgh, NY/Plattsburgh)
Sidney Khuns, Sr., M, Alfred (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport)
Riley Griffin, Sr., M, SUNY Geneseo (New Hyde Park, NY/New Hyde Park)
Emily McGee, Sr., M, SUNY Geneseo (Highland Mills, NY/Monroe Woodbury)
Delaney Goodenow, Sr., M, Keuka (Hilton, NY/Hilton)
Adrianna Calabria, So., M, Utica (Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse)
Ella Camalleri, So., D, SUNY Brockport (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park)
Tierney Krawczyk, Sr., D, Elmira (Elmira, NY/Elmira)
Isabella Lavrynenko, So., D, SUNY Geneseo (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas)
Brynn Furbeck, Sr., D, Nazareth (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy)
Morgan Tara, So., D, St. John Fisher (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder)
Emily McCane, Sr., GK, SUNY Brockport (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili)
Katrina Walls, Jr., GK, Nazareth (Fairhaven, NJ/Marine Academy of Science and Technology)
Empire 8 Tomorrow’s Leaders
Sidney Khuns, Sr., M, Alfred (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport)
Megan Gates, Jr., M, SUNY Brockport (Kendall, NY/Kendall)
Stefanie Hilty, Sr., D, Elmira (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest)
Sarah Brunskill, Sr., M, SUNY Geneseo (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East)
Dahlia Landry, Sr., F, Hartwick (New York, NY/Columbia Secondary)
Elena Esh, Sr., F, Houghton (Gordonville, PA/Linville Hill Christian)
Anna Leone, Sr., M, Keuka (Rochester, NY/Brighton)
Shannon Sgombick, Sr., F, Nazareth (Florida, NY/S.S. Seward Institute)
Rylee Unebasami, So., M, SUNY Poly (Pearl City, HI/Mililani)
Sofia Sanzo, Sr., F, Russell Sage (Niskayuna, NY/Colonie)
Carli Maltbie, Sr., M, St. John Fisher (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna)
Cora Kraft, Sr., D, Utica (Poughquag, NY/Arlington)