Quartet of Duq M Soccer Players Receive A-10 Recognition

The Duquesne Men’s Soccer Team had individual performances recognized by the Atlantic 10 Conference coaches,

This was paced by Maxi Hopfer’s placement on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First and All-Academic Teams.

Make it three consecutive games for Maxi Hopfer as he “scores, scores, scores”. 2-0 #DuqMSoccer @ 70′ @pghsoccernow. pic.twitter.com/pVYjKmgU42

— Zachary Weiss (@ZacharyMWeiss) September 28, 2024

Hopfer, a senior forward and captain from Styria, Austria came back from a groin injury to score seven goals and achieve 19 points, both the second-highest outputs in his five seasons with Duquesne.

During this season, Hopfer was a clear leader for the Dukes and also set the program record for game-winning goals with his score against a then-ranked George Mason side.

MAKING IT LOOK EASY 😮‍💨

After being down 1-0 at the half, @DuqMSoccer comes back to win 2-1 thanks to this goal by Maxi Hopfer with 16 seconds remaining!#NCAASoccer x 🎥 ESPN+pic.twitter.com/UmSbTHkkCg

— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) October 13, 2024

There was a stretch during the campaign where he scored a goal in five of six matches. All five matches in which he scored resulted in victories.

Hopfer’s 25 career goals place third in program history and his 65 points fourth.

Perhaps Hopfer’s biggest impact was in the relationships he built on campus throughout his time at Duquesne. His personality was infectious to anyone who had the opportunity to meet him and even teammate Zoltan Nagy called his goal celebration the best he had seen.

This is the second time in Hopfer’s career that he has been a first team selection.

Hopfer consistently downplayed his accomplishments to saying as a striker he did his job, but he was consistently on the pitch for some of the most important moments in Duquesne Men’s Soccer history.

With Duquesne’s 3-0 Atlantic 10 quarterfinal setback to Fordham, his playing career comes to an end, and he will go down as an all-time great in Dukes history leaving an impact both on and off the pitch.

Nagy received recognition as well, being named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team, after a breakthrough performance which saw him name A-10 Defensive Player of the Week on three separate occasions.

He made the jump to DI soccer from Baldwin Wallace and recorded six clean sheets this season. His 1.03 goals against average was seventh best in a single season. Nagy had an 80.9% save percentage and consistently displayed an instinctual presence in net with growing vocality this season.

Bendix Bennetzen started all 17 games this season and stuck his first career goal against Rhode Island and was named to the All-Rookie Team.

Bennetzen set a program record prior to the season with his result in the beep test and showcased his fitness throughout the season. He played the full 90 minutes on eight separate occasions and his confidence grew as this campaign progressed.

Jaxon Ervin was the fourth Duquesne player to be recognized as he was also named to the All-Academic Team.

Ervin made the most of his number being called off the bench following an injury and started the remaining 16 contests. He had a breakthrough season as well with his 10 points, which included the game-winner at Xavier.

The four award winners match the 2022 campaign when Domenic Nascimben and Ask Ekeland both made the all-conference first team and both Hopfer and Torge Witteborg both were named to the second team. Ekeland additionally was named to the All-Rookie Team, while Witteborg was an all-academic selection. Zach Mowka would later make the All-Championship team.

Despite Duquesne’s exit in the quarterfinals, coach Chase Brooks was quick to remind that the season was largely a successful one and certainly something to build upon in 2025.