Dukes, Honcoop headline as preseason all-conference picks
The South Atlantic Conference has announced its preseason all-conference teams and players to watch, with three Eagles being recognized by the league office. Senior forward Ben Dukes (Southampton, England) and junior midfielder Mitchell Honcoop (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands) were chosen as preseason all-conference first team picks. While, junior defender Dan Coles (Rugby, England) was picked as a player to watch this season.
VIDEO: Mitchell Honcoop Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The South Atlantic Conference has announced its preseason all-conference teams and players to watch, with three Eagles being recognized by the league office. Senior forward Ben Dukes (Southampton, England) and junior midfielder Mitchell Honcoop (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands) were chosen as preseason all-conference first team picks. While, junior defender Dan Coles (Rugby, England) was picked as a player to watch this season.
Carson-Newman tied for the second-most preseason all-conference picks, despite the league predicting a low finish in the preseason poll. Only Anderson, who returns the most experienced roster in the SAC has more preseason all-conference selections than C-N.
Playing in all 16 games, Dukes tied with Honcoop for the team high with five goals in his second season with the Eagles. All five goals came in the month of October. He paced Carson-Newman's eight-goal eruption versus Newberry on October 23rd, scoring three of his team's eight goals. He scored his three goals in exactly 20 minutes and 15 seconds, the third fastest hat trick in the past 15 seasons. It was just the fourth time that a hat trick has occurred all in one half. He tied for the most shots with 35 and led the squad in shots on goal with 19, producing the highest shot on goal percentage (.543) on the club. The 2023 All-SAC forward made 13 starts, including seven straight to end the season.
Honcoop returns for his third season after earning All-SAC Second Team honors last season. The Dutchmen tied Dukes for the team lead in goals with five, while also recording four assists, second-most on the club. Honcoop was one of three Eagles to start and play in every game in 2024.
"Personally it was a pretty decent season," Honcoop said. "As a team, it was not what we wanted to achieve. It feels good to be back with the guys and the new additions are fitting in. If me and (Ben) Dukes keep the form we had last season, that will help us to do better as well. I even want to do better, its time to make the next step."
Coles was named a player to watch, after he was one of just five Eagles to start every game that he played in last season, making 15 starts in C-N's 16 games. The center back totaled 1251 minutes on the pitch, third-most on the team. Defensively, he played the full 90 minutes in 12 of his 15 appearances.
Carson-Newman opens the 2025 season on September 4th, on the road against Trevecca Nazarene at 6:00 p.m. The game can be streamed on FloSports with a subscription. Fans can also follow along to @CN_Eagles on X (Twitter) and Instagram for in-game updates.
