On Tuesday night, Alex Hopmann gave new meaning to the term “pulling strings.”
The University of Maryland-Baltimore County sophomore midfielder went into the half struggling with his shot, tightened up the strings on his stick and came back to lead the Retrievers to a 11-9 win over visiting Towson.
“A lot of kids use a big pocket, whipping the ball real hard,” Hopmann said. “I tightened it up at halftime, and I came back out and it was shooting like I wanted it to.”
The Annapolis High grad scored three second-half goals ? including two in the third period ? to bring UMBC (5-4) out from a 6-6 tie at halftime. Hopmann, who entered the game with eight goals in eight games, is now fifth on the team with 11 goals on a team-high 61 shots.
“He didn?t have a good shooting day against Albany, but he came back tonight and did a great job,” UMBC coach Don Zimmerman said.
On Tuesday, Hopmann?s three goals came on eight shots.
“I just put my shots on target,” Hopmann said. “Like coach says, if you put your shots on target, they?ll eventually go in.”
Aside from the importance of the game to his team, Hopmann had an extra incentive in beating Towson (4-3).
“This rivalry is huge. I?ve got a bunch of high-school teammates on [Towson],” Hopmann said. “Three of my best friends are on that team.”
The 5-foot-9, 155-pound Hopmann tied a program record ? held by five other Retrievers ? by scoring three extra-man goals in one game.
“I think it was very important,” Zimmerman said of the team?s effectiveness in man-advantage situations. “It was a physical game, there were a lot of fouls. If you don?t score on man-up, they?ll keep fouling you. And if you score, maybe they start to lay off you a little bit. I think that was definitely a key.”
Having Hopmann on top of his game at this point in the season will be key, too. The team?s next game is Saturday at Hartford (1-5).
“The conference [schedule] is very important to us, as the defending champions,” Zimmerman said. “We?re going to take it one game at a time.”
Notes: Hopmann?s high school teammates Eric Boyle, Matt Vetter and Brian Vetter play for Towson ? Hopmann led the Annapolis High soccer team in scoring in his junior and senior seasons ? Hopmann leads UMBC with two game-winning goals ? Scored nine goals in 15 games as a freshman.
