The Philadelphia Union pulled off a surprise rout of Sporting Kansas City this past weekend, and rookie Antoine Hoppenot played a large part in helping that happen.
Coming off the bench for new Union head coach John Hackworth, Hoppenot helped Philadelphia build on their 2-0 lead over Sporting KC by drawing a penalty kick and scoring a beautifully-chipped effort over Jimmy Nielsen to cap a 4-0 win at PPL Park. That performance earned him SBI's MLS Rookie of the Week award, and he did so by beating out, among others, teammate Raymon Gaddis.
Other players who Hoppenot just edged out include the Houston Dynamo's Brian Ownby and FC Dallas defender Matt Hedges.
What do you think of Hoppenot winning SBI's MLS Rookie of the Week award? Agree? Impressed with his performance versus Sporting Kansas City?
Share your thoughts below.
No one seems to be talking about how little possession the Inion had this game. They frequently couldn’t string together more than three passes and had lots of really poor first touches. This kid was an exception. Some lovely control on difficult balls, winning almost everything in his general vicinity and a huge danger every time he made it into SKC’s final third. Dude was a beast. I was bummed when they subbed him in for Freddy and he made me eat my words.
Naw, MB was like 8 years old when he moved to Chicago when Bob got the Fire job
In the end team of the week hardly matters. The Union are in the exact same boat as the totw Galaxy: build off the success of this week or no one will remember or care how this one week in the middle of the season went.
Did MB90 go there by any chance, while Bob was at Princeton?
Yeah, I saw that. Some site called livability.com. Michael Bradley grew up there too.
McInerney was a first round pick and so was Okugo. In their first season, the Union had 3 first rounders, which they turned into Mwanga, McInerney, and Okugo. McInerney scored 2 against Sporting and Okugo filed in nicely at CB.
That just took the words right out of my mouth. haha
Union should have been team of the week. LA Gal”DP”s string two wins together now that their piggybanks are all in town? About time says I? A team of young players a week and half into a new coach stonewall arguably the most potent attacking team in the East while hitting four goals? That’s unthinkable.
I went to check his Union and they go nuts telling us he did all these great things in the Ivy League … but then don’t tell us what college he went to.
It’s Princeton, BTW.
Selected by who?
Minus the fact that Zac MacMath is the only first pick of a draft for them that plays.
CONNOR LADE!
Fair enough, but he had virtually no help while at PDS.
PDS is an amazing school, by the way. They somehow field solid teams, with an elite player or two every year. Quite an accomplishment given how small, selective and expensive that school is, without the ability to recruit (no boarding, just a day school). Kudos to their coaches – Malcolm Murphy and Jim Laughlin.
The Princeton area is quite a hotbed of soccer. Just selected as one of the top 10 soccer towns.
He is a dual US/French citizen, so yes, a Euro transfer will be easier.
Way to go, Antoine! I always knew you would make it.
He is the pride of Princeton Day School, Princeton FC and Princeton University.
Glad to see Antoine get chances for the starting 11. He was Ivy League player of year as a junior, was a Herman semi-finalist, and has always been the kind of player who can dribble at people in tight spaces, he is very fast and is pretty accurate with his shots. Like most players he has parts of his game that need work, but he is smart and has shown that he is willing to learn; he has a bright future.
He was born in France, and has lived in Princeton, NJ most of his life. That would make a european transfer easier since getting a euro work permit would not be an issue.
I played against Antoine in High School. All he was then was a really past player with Ok finishing ability. His time at Princeton must have seen him grown exponentially as a player. Can’t say I like the HS he went to (PDS in NJ), but it is cool seeing him play professionally now.
Ives,
When is the next Q&A? I need my fix.
Watching him live and seeing his runs, he is quite an intelligent player. Very fast, very good at supporting teamates, always looking to break. He also is pretty good in the air for someone so small. If he keeps playing like this and building on these kinds of performances i wouldn’t be suprised to see a european club come looking around at him.
The Union must have some great scouts, because they have really raided the draft, especially late round picks. Marfan was a round 2 last year. Gaddis was a 2nd rounder and Hop was a supplemental pick.
Throw in MacMath and Okugo and Jack Mac and the Union probably have the best rate of hitting on their draft picks in the league.
This kid looks legit. Great runs, very pacey, and very calm in front of goal.
Will be watching his career very closely!