ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Empire 8 announced its selections for men's soccer All-Conference awards Tuesday, with two Elmira players receiving honors. Pietro Gallina '26 was named to the Second Team, while Jhoan Chavez '26 captured Third Team honors. Acelino Medford '27 was selected as Elmira's representative for Sportsman of the Year.

A native of Rome, Italy, Gallina started 19 of Elmira's 20 contests this season and paced the Soaring Eagles with five goals, three assists, and 13 points. Gallina recorded points in six contests for the Purple & Gold, including a two-goal outing in a thrilling 2-1 victory at home against Russell Sage College.

Gallina also scored goals in Empire 8 action against Alfred, Brockport, and Houghton. He tallied three points, finishing with one goal and one assist in a 3-1 victory on the road against Houghton.

A native of Miami, Florida, Chavez started each of the 19 games that he played this season for the Purple & Gold. Chavez finished fourth on the team in scoring with two goals and two assists and recorded one game-winning goal for Elmira.

Chavez scored both of his goals in a 3-0 shutout at home against Utica. His first goal was the eventual game-winner, while his second tally was a successful penalty-kick goal. He recorded assists against Keuka and Nazareth, both victories for the Soaring Eagles.

A native of Couva, Trinidad and Tobago, Medford was selected as Elmira's representative for Sportsman of the Year. Each of the 12 Empire 8 Conference men's soccer programs selects one member to be represented on the Sportsman of the Year team.

The complete list of individual awards and all-conference selections are listed below.
 
2024 Empire 8 All-Conference Selections
Player of the Year: Joey Avallone, Sr., F, St. John Fisher
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 All-Conference 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 All-Conference 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 All-Conference 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 All-Conference Third Team
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)