TITLE PUSH: Tufts University men’s soccer star Maxime Hoppenot, center, pushes through a foe to get the ball in the NCAA Division 3 championship game earlier this month. Senior forward ­Hoppenot, a former Princeton Day School standout, helped the Jumbos top Wheaton (Ill.) 4-2 in the title game, giving the program its first-ever national crown. He was joined on the team by four other Princeton-area players, including former PDS teammate Rui Pinheiro, Princeton High alums Zach and Kevin Halliday, and Princeton native Peter Lee-Kramer. (Photo Courtesy of Tufts Sports Information)

Joining the Tufts University men’s soccer team in the fall of 2011, Maxime Hoppenot didn’t get the feeling that he had signed on with a powerhouse.

“When I came in as a freshman, we had a bag of balls that got deflated every day and I would pump up the balls,” said Hoppenot, a former Princeton Day School standout.

But with dynamic head coach Josh Shapiro stocking the program with a number of talented players, Tufts started to climb up the ladder of Division 3 soccer.

Earlier this month, the Jumbos reached the summit of their world, topping Wheaton (Ill.) 4-2 in the Division 3 title game to earn the program’s first-ever national crown.

Coming into the fall, Hoppenot and his teammates were cautiously optimistic about their prospects.

“I think everybody on the team knew how talented we are, it was a question of getting everything to click,” said the 6’0, 170-pound Hoppenot, who was one of five talented Princeton-area players on the team, joined by former PDS teammate Rui Pinheiro, Princeton High stars Zach and Kevin Halliday, and Princeton native Peter Lee-Kramer

“We wanted to challenge for the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) title, we thought that was realistic. If we got into the NCAAs, we thought we could make a run. We went 8-5-2 last year with basically the same group, no one knew what was missing.”

After starting 5-0, the Jumbos hit a rough patch in the middle of the season, going 0-1-3 with a loss to Brandeis and ties against MIT, Amherst, and Middlebury.

“We were not super happy but we were playing well, even in the loss to Brandeis,” said Hoppenot.

“We could have won any of those games. Even when we didn’t have the results we wanted, that brought us together. The balls started bouncing our way, it was pretty gradual.”

Getting bounced out of NESCAC tournament in the first round with a loss to Connecticut College, Hoppenot feared that setback might mark the end of his college career.

“The Conn Coll game was the one game we have regrets about, it was by far our worst game,” recalled Hoppenot.

“We started out slow. When we finally got going, we couldn’t get that second goal and it went to PKs. We were not as decisive as we usually are. We were all very concerned. It was a toss-up for us, it was depending on other results.”

But getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney gave the Jumbos a new lease on life.

“We felt like it was a brand new season,” said Hoppenot. “We had 10 days in purgatory after the NESCAC loss. We watched the selection show in our film room. We had new energy, we got a lot of rest. We got hungry.”

Hoppenot and his classmates were especially hungry coming into the NCAAs as they wanted to extend their careers as long as possible.

“As a senior, you win or you go home and you are done,” said Hoppenot. “We had urgency and a lot of the team saw that in us and they picked up on that and wanted to help us.”

After posting wins over Dickinson and Wheaton (Mass.) in the first weekend of NCAA play, the Jumbos faced a daunting challenge as they headed to play at a powerful Muhlenberg squad with perennial champion Messiah looming in the quarterfinal round.

“Going into that weekend, we had a huge game on Saturday,” said Hoppenot.

“Muhlenberg had one loss and was undefeated at home and we were playing them there. We spent our whole week preparing for them.”

Tufts topped Muhlenberg 2-0 and then edged Messiah 1-0 to book a spot in the final 4 in Kansas City.

“We had one day to prepare for Messiah and maybe that was better because we didn’t have time to psyche ourselves out,” said Hoppenot.

“Rui said in the locker room before the game that each team has 11 players on the field and the ball is round. At that point we were confident in the way we were playing. We came out fast and got them on their heels. We scored in the first 52 seconds. We were extremely relieved; scoring early was great but then we had 89 minutes of having to deal with the best team in D-3. We dealt with that well. We defended more, we defended with 11 guys.”

In the national semis, the Jumbos upended another national power as they defeated Ohio Wesleyan 3-0.

“We had Ohio Wesleyan and they are probably the second most storied program after Messiah,” said Hoppenot, who picked up an assist in the win.

“We play our best when we are hungry and we have our backs to the wall. It was to our advantage to be maximum underdogs. We could come out and focus on the way we were playing and they had to beat us.”

Taking on Wheaton (Ill.) in the title game, Tufts played its game, building a 3-0 lead by early in the second half and then surrendering two goals before tacking on one at the end to pull out the 4-2 win.

“You get to the final and all bets are off; we were excited, they were excited,” said Hoppenot.

“We came out flying. We found a goal in the first half. We had a 3-0 lead with 35 minutes left in the second half and I think we relaxed for about 10 minutes and they scored two goals. Then we started finding our feet again. We started playing more of a territorial game; that insurance goal helped us relax.”

Reflecting on what made the difference in the title run, Hoppenot pointed to a selfless approach.

“We played more as a team this year,” said Hoppenot, who tallied three goals and three assists this season as Tufts posted a final record of 16-2-4.

“We made a tactical change. We had played two defensive center midfielders in the past and we moved Rui up this year. He played box to box and that opened us up offensively. We were a more unselfish team. We were a pass-first team, we were distributing the ball more. We had guys who didn’t have big stats who were really key players.”

Having played with Pinheiro for years, Hoppenot said the pair has developed a special connection on the field.

“We played together all of PDS; we played in the summers with our brothers,” said Hoppenot.

“With him moving up the field we were able to find each other more on the field this year. We have a great understanding of where we are on the field.”

It didn’t take long for Hoppenot to develop an understanding with former rival Zach Halliday when he walked on to the team in 2013.

“When he reached out to me saying he was coming to Tufts, I thought he was a good soccer player and he was used to winning being with PHS,” said Hoppenot, who battled with Halliday in the 2010 Mercer County Tournament title game won by PDS 1-0 in double overtime.

“When he got a chance he took it and he was starting by the end of his freshman year, which was really impressive. Zach looks up to me, he is my protege.”

Hoppenot was also impressed by the younger Halliday, Kevin, who joined the squad this fall as a top recruit.

“We saw in preseason what kind of player he was,” said Hoppenot. “I thought he would be the first or second guy off the bench but then he hurt his knee. The first time he was cleared was just before the first NCAA game. He decided to play even though his season may only be one game. I have a lot of respect for that; it showed that he had a lot of confidence in us.”

Even though the other Princeton product on the team,  Lee-Kramer, played his high school soccer at Phillips Andover (Mass.), Hoppenot kept close to him over the years.

“Peter and I were good friends at Charter School and then he went to boarding school in New England,” said Hoppenot.

“When he came home we would spend time together. We were both getting recruited by Tufts. Peter called and said he just committed to Tufts and I should too. I committed later that day. I was down to three schools and I needed a push.”

After making the title push, Hoppenot and his teammates didn’t have much time to bask in the glow of their accomplishment.

“We had a lot of the campus following us; we celebrated the night of the finals but then we came back and reality hit,” said Hoppenot.

“It was final exam period and we had a lot of work to do. We were in Kansas City for five days and didn’t do as much work out there as we should have but it has definitely been worth it.”

And seeing Tufts work its way up the ladder of D-3 soccer to make the national championship a reality is an experience that Hoppenot will definitely savor over the years.