NEW ORLEANS – With the fall season just around the corner, the Sun Belt Conference unveiled its 2019 men's soccer preseason poll and honors as voted on by the league’s six head coaches.
 
Coastal Carolina topped the preseason poll with a slight edge as the favorite with two first-place votes and 28 points, just one point ahead of defending regular-season and Sun Belt Tournament champion Georgia State (two first-place votes) and Georgia Southern (one first-place vote) with 27 points each.
 
New conference member Central Arkansas also secured one first-place vote and tallied 22 points to place fourth in the poll. The Bears join the Sun Belt after spending nine seasons as an associate member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Last season, Central Arkansas won the MVC regular-season and tournament titles and finished with its first winning record as an NCAA Division I program.
 
Coastal Carolina senior forward Tsiki Ntsabeleng as Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Georgia State senior defender Kyle Clinton as Preseason Defensive Player of the Year grabbed preseason individual honors.
 
Ntsabeleng returns for his senior season as the Sun Belt's leading returning scorer with 18 points (six goals and six assists). The reigning Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year earned recognition on the All-Sun Belt first team, Sun Belt Championship All-Tournament team and United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region team as a junior.
 
Clinton, the two-time Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, is back after pacing Georgia State with more than 1,800 minutes played and anchoring a Panthers' back line that conceded only 25 goals in 20 matches and pitched five shutouts. He earned All-Sun Belt first-team and USC All-South second-team honors as well as recognition on the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy watch list last season.
 
All six teams were represented on the preseason All-Sun Belt team led by Georgia State with five selections.
 
The 2019 season gets underway the final weekend of August with all six teams in action. The 2019 Sun Belt Men's Soccer Championship, hosted by Appalachian State, is set for Nov. 13-17 at the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex in Boone, N.C.
 
2019 SUN BELT CONFERENCE MEN’S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL & HONORS
Preseason Coaches' Poll
First-place votes in parentheses
 
1. Coastal Carolina (2) - 28
2. Georgia State (2) - 27
    Georgia Southern (1) - 27
4. Central Arkansas (1) - 22
5. Appalachian State - 15
6. Howard - 7
 
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
Niklas Brodacki, Central Arkansas (Sr., F, Norrkoping, Sweden)
Tsiki Ntsabeleng, Coastal Carolina (Sr., F, Johannesburg, South Africa) ¹
Adam Davie, Georgia Southern (So., F, Nottingham, England)
Aris Briggs, Georgia State (Jr., F, Memphis, Tenn.) ¹
Jeranimo Power, Coastal Carolina (Sr., MF, De Ar, South Africa) ¹
Aldair Cortes, Georgia Southern (Jr., MF, Cairo, Ga.)
Logan Luque, Georgia State (So., MF, Bonaire, Ga.)*
Zeiko Harris, Appalachian State (Jr., D, Sandys Parish, Bermuda) ¹
Kyle Clinton, Georgia State (Sr., D, Havant, England)** ¹
George Proctor, Georgia State (Jr., D, Leeds, England)²
Paul Tyson, Georgia State (R-Jr., GK, Liverpool, England) ¹
Carlos Caro, Howard (Sr., GK, Silver Spring, Md.) ²
 
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Tsiki Ntsabeleng, Coastal Carolina (Sr., F, Johannesburg, South Africa)¹
 
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Kyle Clinton, Georgia State (Sr., D, Havant, England)** ^1
 
12018 First Team All-Sun Belt selection
²2018 Second Team All-Sun Belt selection
*2018 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year
**2018 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year