Four Eagles earn preseason All-SAC honors
Carson-Newman’s men’s soccer program has landed four Eagles on the South Atlantic Conference’s preseason All-Conference teams, the league office announced Tuesday morning.
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman's men's soccer program has landed four Eagles on the South Atlantic Conference's preseason All-Conference teams, the league office announced Tuesday morning.
Ben Dukes (Southampton, England) is Carson-Newman's lone first-team selection. Mitchell Honcoop (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands) and Maxime Wester (Brussel, Belgium) were named to the second-team, while goalkeeper Federico Simonetti (Crema, Italy) was C-N's third-team selection.
Dukes earned his first career honor from the SAC, by being named to the all-conference third team in 2023. The forward scored his three goals in a four-game stretch in late September. He scored game-winners against Emory & Henry and Newberry. Along with the goals, he also pitched in with two assists. He finished the year starting all 16 games he played in. Dukes was second on the team in shots with 37.
Honcoop was one of just three players to play in all 17 games, starting 16 of them. The midfielder scored a pair of goals and added one assist. Both goals he scored helped C-N seal wins versus West Alabama and Tusculum.
Wester burst onto the scene as a freshman, making 16 starts and earning All-SAC Third Team honors. He scored his first career goal in the final seconds of the 3-0 win versus Emory & Henry on Sept 20. His second and final goal came as the finishing touches on a 3-1 comeback victory versus Tusculum on Nov 1. Both goals he scored in his freshman season were scored in the final minute of the game. He played in 16 of the 17 games, with 14 starts. Wester took 17 shots, five which were on target.
Battling through injury, Simonetti was able to start in 12 games in his first season with Carson-Newman. He made 44 saves, averaging nearly four per game. The goalkeeper sported a 3-5-4 record in goal and recorded a pair of shutouts. He set a career-high in saves with nine, in the 2-0 season opening win against West Alabama on Aug. 31. His 0.92 goals against average mark was the second best in the SAC, while his 11 goals allowed and .800 save percentage were third best in the league.
Carson-Newman opens the 2024 season on September 5th at McCown Field versus Trevecca Nazarene at 3:00 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.
First Team
F – Kosi Mafela, Wingate
F – Claudel N'Goubou, Limestone
F – Pablo Pozos, Wingate
F – Peter Plougmand, Mars Hill
MF – Mo Bouta, Tusculum
MF – Julian Caro Sepulveda, Anderson
MF – Salano Birch, Catawba
MF – Ben Dukes, Carson-Newman
D – Harry Rowe, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Pedro Santos, Wingate
D – Stefan Roeb, Limestone
D – Leandro Dos Santos Haesler, Lincoln Memorial
GK – Franco Antoniolli Funes, Anderson
Second Team
F – Mark Radoki, Limestone
F – Juan Pablo Nicoletti, Catawba
F – Frederic Benedix, Coker
F – Sebastia Cerda-Tous, Catawba
MF – Seraphin Guetan, Newberry
MF – Arnau Ollie, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Ronan O'Mahony, Lincoln Memorial
MF – Mitchell Honcoop, Carson-Newman
D – Falk Jorch, Limestone
D – Matty Tricker, Coker
D – Dennis Hamzic, Wingate
D – Maxime Wester, Carson-Newman
GK – Zak Stiffler, Catawba
Third Team
F – Baustista Vecchi-Romello, Catawba
F – Tajay Grant – Lincoln Memorial
F – Diego Fernandez, Mars Hill
F – Ido Omaysi – Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Ethan Orozco, Newberry
MF – Peter Majer, Catawba
D – Pol Elias, Anderson
D – Daniel Becerra, Limestone
D – Ben Harvey, Mars Hill
D – Nolan McMillen, Mars Hill
GK – Federico Simonetti, Carson-Newman
