Coach John Hackworth considers Princeton University graduate Antoine Hoppenot the type of intellectual who has translated his brains in the classroom to duties as a Louisville City FC forward.
“He’s always trying to understand his role and those around him better,” Hackworth said.
Yet you hardly need Hoppenot’s smarts to understand what has made him so successful in purple. With five of his team-leading seven assists last season translating to Cameron Lancaster goals, nobody on LouCity’s roster has better fed the club’s prolific striker.
“Our game is about relationships,” Hackworth said, “and he obviously developed that with Cam.”
Hoppenot, sent to LouCity via a rare USL Championship trade with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, wrote himself into club lore with a last-minute, game-tying goal in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final. LouCity went on to defeat rival Indy Eleven and appear in the league final a third straight season.
Then Lancaster arrived the following spring on loan from Major League Soccer’s Nashville SC, and Hoppenot set forth carving out a different identity with his new club.
“I wouldn’t say it comes quickly. There’s a lot of repetition,” he said of the connection with Lancaster, who’s no longer on loan but rather under contract with LouCity. “I try to be the one in training passing Cam the ball, reading his movement, doing all that stuff — and it helps.
“Everyone moves a little differently. Everyone wants the ball in different spots. Everyone makes different runs. It’s just been about getting an understanding of how he plays. If he’s successful, our team’s successful.”
True. Each Hoppenot-to-Lancaster connection last year happened within LouCity’s 13-game unbeaten streak, starting Aug. 19. Hoppenot made a run in from his left wing spot as Lancaster sagged into space, received the pass in the center of the box and opened scoring in a 4-1 win over Sporting KC II.
The partnership continued into the playoffs when Hoppenot served as a different sort of playoffs hero. In an Oct. 17 victory over Saint Louis FC — the Eastern Conference Semifinal — Hoppenot led Lancaster to a cross in open space. Lancaster settled with one touch off his chest, scored with the next, and the boys in purple advanced to their sixth straight Eastern Conference Final.
“As I’ve grown older, I’ve tried to read the game more and be tactical about my movement rather than rely purely on skill,” Hoppenot said. “I try to pull players out of position. This is my 10th year (as a professional), and you learn some things and try to implement them.”
Hoppenot, who majored in sociology at Princeton, went No. 51 in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft to the Philadelphia Union, where Hackworth then worked. The two reunited after Hoppenot moved on to play for FC Cincinnati, Reno 1868 and the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Hackworth initially coached Hoppenot as a rookie in Philly. Years later, thanks to the trade with Tampa Bay, he brought to LouCity a seasoned pro.
“This being his third year in this locker room, he’s also become a leader — a voice,” Hackworth said. “Before, he was getting all the information. Now he can disseminate it. He’s clearly earned it with respect from his teammates on and off the field.”
At age 30, Hoppenot has played at levels up and down the American soccer ladder. Experience is way to learn, of course, but hardly his only method. The academic continues to read plenty. And when choosing to watch something, he gravitates toward informational videos.
“I try to be as productive as possible — get better at something every day,” Hoppenot said. “Hopefully it’s soccer most days, but if it’s something else, it’s important to progress in other ways.
“I want to have a couple good years left — to keep being successful — and I’d really like to retire with a USL championship.”
Importantly, to lift a trophy, Hoppenot understands he’ll need to again elevate Lancaster.
