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Duquesne University

Rhead, Hopfer, Alumni provide boosts in Duquesne Men’s Soccer 2-1 victory

Photo credit: Duquesne Athletics/Christian Daikeler

To know Duquesne Men’s Soccer senior captain Maxi Hopfer, there are two key pieces to understand, being that he is from Europe, and he likes to score goals.

This was consistently shouted by 14 Duquesne alumni who dedicated time to the program and were vocal throughout the 90 minutes opposite the Dukes bench.

The Hopfer chant was practiced throughout Friday night to be used during Saturday evening’s Atlantic 10 Conference battle against Saint Joseph’s and became contagious throughout the opposing side of the field.

Anticipation began to build when Hopfer was able to have foot meet ball in the 70th minute for his third consecutive game-winning goal and 10th of his career, tying a program record, securing three points in a 2-1 win over the Hawks.

“Almost every single one at some point was on the pitch with me and I’m the last man standing,” Hopfer deduced. “They told me they rehearsed it before, and they were so happy I scored and had a reason to sing it. You cannot make this up. If you tell me before they come out here with a song, sing with me over there standing happy I scored a goal, I’m not sure if I’d believe you.”

This win makes Duquesne’s undefeated streak at Rooney Field eight games dating back to last season, the most since 2005, and tied for second most overall. When combined with the women’s soccer team, the Dukes have won their last 15 contests on friendly pitch.

Prior to the game, coach Chase Brooks warned his side that Saint Joseph’s was a more physical unit leading the A-10 in fouls and is also up towards if not atop in yellow cards as well.

True to form, the first half of this game featured four yellow cards and several stoppages to talk to players, which allowed for the Dukes to see how the game was going to be called and play within the confines of that.

“We talked to the guys before the game and at halftime, ultimately they have to keep their heads and emotions in check,” Brooks explained. “You have to control your controllables and ultimately that’s what the guys did a pretty good job with, I’d say we’d give maybe an A- or B+ for that grade. I give the guys credit though; we knew it was going to be a physical game because St. Joe’s leads the conference in fouls. We knew it would be that type of guys, so it was taking whatever the ref was going to give and figure it out from there.”

Duquesne made the first move in the second half, quickly reclaiming possession after a handball in the box was changed. Graduate student forward Jack Rhead had been knocking on the door, but ran down the field, had an angle and his strike in the 51st minute placed the Dukes in front.

“He’s been due one of those for a couple of weeks now,” stated Brooks. “It was really nice to see him get off the mark tonight. He’s peaking at the right time for us, which is great. He’s a handful. He’s a big boy that is mobile, and if he can be that true goal threat that we know he can be, that’s a whole other element.”

Rhead ran over to celebrate with the alumni

Grant McIntosh earned an assist on Hopfer’s goal, his first helper on the season. McIntosh has been a consistent presence on the pitch in his two campaigns with the Dukes, starting 24 of 25 games.

While this is Rhead’s first season with the program, he noted that from the first week he felt at home as part of Duquesne and really did not have to try. It was Rhead’s initiative to make a beeline right for the alumni so they could celebrate and provide thanks for providing necessary energy.

“As a forward I always want to be on the score sheet, contributing to the wins every week,” he said. “It feels great to get the goal, looking forward to the rest of the season and hopefully getting more of them.”

Hopfer came back onto the pitch at 66′ and less than four minutes later, he scored what wound up being the game-winning goal.

That goal was the 23rd of his Duquesne career which now ties him for third all-time with David Gingrich.

The alumni started a chant for Hopfer upon his returning to the game and it was something the fans noted.

“Just wait until he scores a goal,” one of the alumni promised.

When Hopfer delivered on that promise, he, like Rhead, went towards the alumni, with the team following suit. As the chant started Hopfer played conductor, losing himself in the moment as he went back towards midfield.

“Brilliant, what a moment,” beamed Rhead. “You had all of the alumni there and it was an amazing moment. I think we’re all going to remember that one and Maxi brings so much to the program.”

From then on, it became a matter of closing the game, which hit a roadblock when the Hawks found a score from Blake Driehuis in the 86th minute off a corner kick and three Duquesne substitutions.

The Dukes faced pressure in the closing moments, but had a clear, after which players could embrace, while the alumni again went to Hopfer chant. The current squad charged towards the alumni and the chants only continued.

Now at 7-1-1/2-0-0, Duquesne is clearly building momentum in a time of year that it is desired.

In the first half of Tuesday’s win over Mount St. Mary’s connection was difficult to find, but to grow from those 45 minutes to the final ones Saturday displayed an ability to rise to the occasion when called upon.

“Today I felt like we didn’t allow the moment to get on top of us,” Rhead concluded. “There were times at the end there where a few of the lads and I were getting tired, but we knew the energy we had from the players on the bench. We just stuck it out, dug deep and kept going. We knew if we stuck to the gameplan, we were going to get the end result. It came down to that, we didn’t lose control of our game.”

Duquesne has a week in between games, next traveling to take on Saint Louis Saturday at 8 p.m.

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Duquesne starters (7-1-1/2-0-0 A-10)- Zoltan Nagy (GK), Christoffer Vie Angell, Jesper Moksnes, Grant McIntosh, Dakota Jonke, Bendix Bennetzen, Maxi Hopfer, Ashton Jell, Jaxon Ervin, Ashwin Menon, Blaize Hardy.

Saint Joseph’s starters (2-7-1/0-1-0 A-10)- Lars Haavie (GK), Jokull Sveinsson, Eishu Nishizono, Truls Braendvang, Blake Dreihuis, Luke Johnson, Oskar Steinicke, Bart Kooistra, Matteo Mazzotta, Cassidy Tanddo, Sean Boyle

Goals– Jack Rhead DUQ (1st, 51′), Maxi Hopfer DUQ (4th, 70′), Blake Driehuis SJU (3rd, 86′)

Cautions– Cassidy Tandoo SJU 24′, Blake Driehuis SJU 32′, Ashwin Menon DUQ 32′, Duquesne bench 34′, Ashton Jell 77′, Herman Reffsgaard SJU 87′

Shots– Duquesne 14 (8 on frame) Saint Joseph’s 10 (3 on frame)

Corners– Duquesne 6 Saint Joseph’s 4

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