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Duquesne Men’s Soccer Wins Behind Hopfer’s Heroics

Down in the basement of the Brottier Hall gym Maxi Hopfer was furiously rowing, hoping that he could come back to the pitch with his Duquesne Men’s Soccer teammates, but questioning whether he would be able to do so.

Hopfer expressed his doubts to assistant coach Adam Mitchell, as he had a groin injury which required surgery after playing six games last season and missing the entire spring campaign.

Not only is Hopfer a captain, but he is the heart and soul of this Duquesne team, with his vocality matched by his play on the field.

When Hopfer scored in the 88th minute, it was his second consecutive game with a goal, third of the season and 21st in his Duquesne career tying him for fourth all time.

“My groin, this, that, this,” he deduced. “Now being here, it’s just so cool. I’m so thankful to do it here with this team and have such great relationships with the coaches. I’ve known so many people for so long, I’m really happy about it.”

When the dust settled, Duquesne triumphed 2-1 over Mount St. Mary’s Tuesday night on Rooney Field and in doing so, gave Chase Brooks his 83rd victory as Dukes coach, making him the winningest leader in program history.

“Every win is important, and every win is fun,” stated Brooks. “I don’t think anyone is more important than the rest. I just told the guys at the end that they’re a big part of it. Same thing with the alums, who I’m excited to see this weekend. They’re all a part of it. As we continue to try to build a history here that everyone can be proud of it, I think it’s another step along the path.”

Though Duquesne offered a few shots, none were seriously timed to make a difference in the first half score, as the teams retreated to its respective locker rooms seeking a breakthrough.

Mount St. Mary’s had no wins next to its name and Brooks had hoped that this game would be one where more of the bench could play, but it was clear that would not arise.

Even so, neither coaches nor player showed any panic, in fact, the adversity only drew everyone closer. Brooks talked to his team and asked what it saw, and he felt the nail was hit on the head.

“We decided to come out like animals in the second half and do what we had to do,” graduate student forward Ali Nasser explained.

That message clearly resonated in the first 15-20 minutes of play as it started with Jack Rhead taking a hard shot and hitting the crossbar.

It was a sign for the Dukes that playing together and advancing the ball through run of play could only result in positive things happening.

Nasser earned his second goal of the season when the Mount provided some space and similar to Rhead, came up firing from 24 yards out, finishing top left.

“It started off with my boys and we were working really hard from the beginning,” Nasser highlighted. “We had to come in and change the game, change up the mood a little bit. My teammate played me a beautiful ball and I was a little open, so I decided to have a go. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, I learned that from Maxi.”

It appeared that goal would be enough for Duquesne to prevail, but it found itself on its defending end for a few minutes.

Mount St. Mary’s had not put a shot on goal, but a breakdown led to its lone ball on frame, which saw Junee Lee achieve his third score of the second in the 84th minute.

A Duquesne player briefly fell to the floor, while another voiced frustration that it was a “soft goal”. Brooks determined it was a score similar to one of three conceded during a five-minute lapse from last week’s loss at Robert Morris.

Those who were expecting Duquesne’s first draw of the season underestimated the team’s connection down the stretch.

Ashton Jell got the ball up and Jaxon Ervin played a ball up towards Hopfer who had a step or two on his man and with the goalkeeper off his line, placed his shot in the back of the net.

There’s no words. It doesn’t get old. Scoring goals is why we do all of this. Every single training and every single pain is forgotten, and it’s pure joy with the guys I’ve spent so much time with, (and) celebrating together.

The goal was not only a response to show how Duquesne had grown as a side from just under a week prior, it showed a willingness to find a way to win through adversity.

“That’s college soccer, isn’t it,” asked Brooks. “You just have to find a way to win. Ultimately, we had some really good moments, and a couple moments we’d like to get back. Ali’s strike was absolutely top notch. That was a fun one to see. Maxi is just one of those guys that’s clutch. He loves the game; he loves to score, and I love having him in the program. You need your big-time players to step up in big moments, and I think that’s what you saw tonight all the way around.”

Duquesne will resume Atlantic 10 play when it hosts Saint Joseph’s Saturday at 5 p.m.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Duquesne starters (6-1-1/1-0-0 A-10)– Zoltan Nagy (GK), Christoffer Vie Angell, Jesper Moksnes, Dakota Jonke, Bendix Bennetzen, Maxi Hopfer, Ben Pleavin, Ashton Jell, Jaxon Ervin, Ashwin Menon, Blaize Hardy

Mount St. Mary’s starters (0-6-2/0-0-0 MAAC)– Julian Marcos, Maks Czyz, Mackie Sacarellos, Graham Dougald, Dominik Topolsky, Markus Nilsen, Sherwin Chen, Luciano Schiafini, Jack Kehoe, Erick Villatoro, Abou Cherif

Goals– Ali Nasser DUQ (2nd, 65′), Junee Lee MSM (3rd, 84′), Maxi Hopfer DUQ (3rd, 88′)

Cautions– MSM Bench 60′, Pepo Bravo DUQ 70′, Abou Cherif MSM 72′, Markus Nilsen MSM 79′, MSM Bench 90′

Shots– Duquesne 15 (5 on frame), Mount St. Mary’s 6 (1 on frame)

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