Honcoop scores twice in C-N's season-opening draw
September 5, 2024

Honcoop scores twice in C-N's season-opening draw

Mitchell Honcoop scored two goals in the first 25 minutes for Carson-Newman, but the Eagles unable to hold the early lead, seeing Trevecca Nazarene (0-0-1) battle back to score two goals to end in a 2-2 draw in Thursday afternoon's season opener.

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VIDEO: Mitchell Honcoop Interview

VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Mitchell Honcoop scored two goals in the first 25 minutes for Carson-Newman but the Eagles unable to hold the early lead, seeing Trevecca Nazarene (0-0-1) battle back to score two goals to end in a 2-2 draw in Thursday afternoon's season opener.

"Obviously very disappointed even though it's a draw," Carson-Newman head coach Stephen Lyons said. "It feels like a loss in the manner that it came about. I thought for the first 30 minutes we played some great futbol, possessed the ball well and had good energy. The one mistake knocked us. For the most part after that, Trevecca was probably the better team. We have to go back to the drawing board and see maybe where I went wrong with rotations and try to get ready for a quick turnaround against Young Harris."

Lyons and company could not have asked for a better start to a game. In the third minute, the Eagles drew a corner kick and capitalized. Maxime Wester (Brussel, Belgium) sent the corner kick into the box where it was poked a away by Trevecca Nazarene goalkeeper Adan Gonzalez. Mitchell Honcoop (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands) found himself in the right position on the loose ball and rocketed a shot that deflected off a defender and found the back of the net to make it 1-0.

Antoine Torrent (Clermont ferrand, France) and Wester both took shots in the next eight minutes of game action but came up empty.

Either side's next opportunity came in the 25th minute. Daniel Vennesland (Tanager, Norway) sent a cross toward the top of the penalty area, where Torrent got his foot on the ball and then was shoved to the ground. A foul was called which would result in a penalty kick. Honcoop took aim and slotted the penalty attempt in the bottom right corner of goal to increase C-N's advantage to 2-0.

Eight minutes after C-N's second goal, Chris Douglas would take advantage of a C-N miscue. A bad pass that was intercepted by Phillip Collins led to Douglas shot that found its way to the left side of goal to bring the Trojans back within a goal.

Neither side had any other shots on goal the rest of the first half and C-N led 2-1 at intermission.

Trevecca Nazarene continued to create chances into the second half. Federico Simonetti (Crema, Italy) made his first save of the season in the 52nd minute on a shot from Tom Hooper.

Three of C-N's four second half shots came in a two minute stretch. Jay Wyatt (Petersborough, England) was near the six-yard box but had his near-sided shot saved by Gonzalez. Shortly after an Eagles corner kick, Honcoop and Vennesland both had chances that were erased at goal.

The Trojans' efforts offensively paid off with less than three minutes to go. After an initial cross was deflected away, Hooper came away with possession, dribbled to his left and sent a shot across goal that found the bottom right corner to level the match in the 88th minute.

The season-opening tie marks just the second time the program has opened a season with a draw. The only other occasion was back in 1990 against Huntingdon at home.

Honcoop became the first player since Nic Carsh versus Spring Hill on August 28, 2022 to score two goals or more in a game. It also marks the second consecutive season opener that the senior midfielder has scored in as well.

"Of course it's a good feeling to score," Honcoop said. "Especially because I only scored twice last year in the whole season. Scoring twice in 25 minutes was definitely really good. I prefer that I didn't score and win than this."

The Trojans narrowly outshot C-N 11-10 and 5-4 on goal. Torrent took two shots for C-N while four others each had one.  

Carson-Newman is back on the field as it hits the road for its next three contests, starting Sunday evening against Young Harris. The match is set for a 5:00 p.m. start. Fans can also follow along to @CN_Eagles on X (Twitter) and Instagram for in-game updates.

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